[BOUNTY CLOSED] Open Source (CC) Paper Wallet Kit for safe offline coin storage

[aantonop]

I am sponsoring a bounty of at least 5BTC (will adjust if necessary) to build an open source paper wallet kit.

Everything about the project will be open: graphics, code, website, suppliers etc, using Creative Common licenses.

The paper wallet is designed to be sold (by anyone) as a kit with the following characteristics:

- You print the keys so no one ever sees them
- The design will be pre-printed, double-sided on heavy weight cotton paper, blank spaces for keys
- The paper will come in sheets, micro-perforated to easily tear into neat individual notes
- Each note will have a stub with a second backup copy of the keys, for storage at a second location
- Each kit will come with an opaque security sticker that has a scratch-off coating, for covering the private keys
- Each kit will come with a custom version of the bitaddress.org code for printing your special paper wallets, and instructions

All of the above have been done one way or another. This is different for four reasons:

1. No pre-printed keys. Too insecure - cold storage can't be trusted on pre-printed keys
2. No ugly laser,  see-through paper, with scissor cuts. Designed for offset printing, on heavy stock in 1000+ sheet volume.
3. Great security features (security sticker, opacity, tear-off stub for backup etc.). All security features user-applied.
4. All open source, to encourage re-use, re-design, "franchising", re-sellers and UX standardization

The entire project will sit on github from inception, including graphics.

I will give the bounty based on community member feedback and votes, for maximum fairness. If anyone knows how to do escrow for a bounty, I'll do that too.

I am open to suggestions on modifying the project, bounty, process, design as necessary to get broad use and adoption. I am also open to co-sponsors for the bounty. I will sell these kits, but so can anyone else - completely open license.

Thank you any and all for reading!

[UPDATE: Repository for anything created or proposed https://github.com/aantonop/openpaperwallet ]

[UPDATE2: BOUNTY RAISED to 10BTC - 5BTC for winner, 2.5BTC each for two more runners-up ]

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[gweedo]

http://bitaddress.org and https://github.com/pointbiz/bitaddress.org is this what your looking for? and I am not claiming the bounty for that site, I am not with the site, and didn't make the site, so the bounty should go to that guy.

[aantonop]

I am aware of several very nice designs recently completed for another project, which did not win that competition.
If those can be open sourced they can be re-used for this project.

[aantonop]

@gweedo: I'll be customizing bitaddress.org code as part of this bounty. I'm looking for some different designs, which will need to include a tear-off stub feature with a second set of keys.

[acorn]

Could you give us more details as to the sizing requirements of the QR codes and any other design specifications?

Pretty excited about what you've got planned.

[MysteryMiner]

I have friend who is manager in printing shop. I will ask about prices and formats supported. Probably minimum quantity of prints as well.

The main production are eco paper bags but I guess the production line can be adjusted for making various other paper items and kits.

The greatest threat to security for paper wallets are printer memory and insecurity of computer managing the keys. Printers sometimes store the data in own memory. Some printer firmware can be rewritten by anyone on local network. Making paper kit for bitcoin storage is not going to solve any noob problems.

[aantonop]

I'm looking for creative input, for sure.


I would like to have 2 or 3 open licensed deisgns for people to choose. Therefore, they will all need standardized locations and sizes for the QRs and stuff.

I have found some great scratch-off security stickers. These can be peeled off a sheet, and stuck on top of the QR codes and key text. Once stuck, the adhesive cannot be removed without tearing and defacing the barcode. The scratch-off is transparent underneath, so once scratched you can scan the code. They are made for barcodes of course.

I've found many suppliers online, they all offer some variation of a 1" x 1", 1" x 2" or 2" x 2" for the US market. I'd like to hear about European suppliers, if someone can search. We need to find some sizes that have close equivalents in both metric and imperial, so that they can be sourced.

Here's an example: http://www.myscratchofflabels.com/square-rectangle-scratch-off-labels.html

Both the key hex and barcode for the private key need to be in a specific area so they can be completely covered, front and back (printed obscuring pattern on back)

For now, the aim is US Letter sheets, imperial measurements and proportions, and US-sized stickers.

If someone wants to work on A4, metric and metric stickers, let us know by replying! I am not a designer, so I do not know how hard it is to make one design work for both.

I would like the note to have FOUR areas:

Left, Middle, Right, Stub

Essentially, the existing designs have three areas (Left, Middle, Right), and need to be extended by 33%, to add a stub area

I do not care about "anti-counterfeiting" designs. They're pointless, since this will not need to resist counterfeiting. I like it to be similar to a banknote, but it must be clearly NOT money, so that professional printing houses don't freak out.  It will probably include a TEXT area for a disclaimer in the local language (in the US it will say in red "NOT LEGAL TENDER" somewhere on the border).

Here's my suggestion:

BEFORE anyone submits a design, we all agree on a TEMPLATE, which is a wireframe of an entire sheet, showing all the locations of the "blanks".

This TEMPLATE will also be open sourced and included in the kit. Think about it: You just bought 10 gorgeous sheets, quality printed on heavy paper. Do you really want to use one of those sheets to TEST your printers alignment??? Hell NO! So, I would include 5 printed template sheets in the kit on plain white paper, for testing your printing. I'll also include it as a PDF so that people can download and test their printers.



I hope this makes sense, waiting for feedback!

[aantonop]

@Mystery Miner

I have some suppliers in the US west coast for printing, but cost depends on print run. I will be sourcing a (medium) 1000-5000 sheet run here.

The design I am proposing does not include pre-printed keys. The keys will be printed by each user at home, with offline software. I want to include detailed instructions for the users in the kit. Ideas are welcome!

[aantonop]

For the full-page template, to help all designers coordinate and standardize, I was thinking something that looks like the design below, with cut marks and guide lines, scaled for US letter. I am not a designer, this is just for the concept and is horribly out of scale:



Something like that, in a vector, could be a template for all the designers and also for test-prints by the users to align their printers.

[acorn]

Am I correct in assuming that the scratch-off stickers will be provided with the sheets separately, and applied once printed?

If this is true, then each individual note/wallet would have one scratch off sticker (for the private key), and both QR codes on the stubs are exposed? Could you clarify how the stubs will work?



4 would fit on letter size pretty comfortably. The above example uses 1" squares for QR code blank areas The QR codes themselves should probably be a little smaller, since you want to be sure the scratch off area exceeds the size of the code and the code will need a bit of breathing room anyways. The perforations in this layout would be between each note, so there isn't really any room for bleed unless you changed it to two perforations between each note. Designers should account for accidental tearing...

[MysteryMiner]

This eBay seller have the best tamper evident security labels available so far, he also does custom prints http://myworld.ebay.com/labelogixusa

If I will get the paper sizes and quantity I can get approximate printing cost.

[casascius]

Outsourcing professional paper wallets would be a fantastic idea I have wanted to inspire.  It can be done securely using a two-factor system.  Here is how it would work.

Suppose I engaged a professional printer who could do the whole thing other than prove they didn't keep the private keys (which is impossible).  Instead, I would have them create the second factor of a two-factor system.

It would sort of work like this.  I write a program to generate a bunch of random string passphrases and their corresponding "intermediate codes".  The printing company would use the same or similar program to take those intermediate codes and generate the encrypted private keys and the bitcoin addresses.  They would do all of the printing.  Those paper wallets would be perfectly usable, except that I only have the passphrases.

They deliver the paper wallets to me.  I overprint the passphrases on them, such as with an inkjet printer.  I don't know the encrypted private key because the printing company has already covered it with a scratchoff.

Once done this way, the only way the users of these paper wallets could be stolen from is if both that company and I were to have colluded to share the key material with one another.  There are a lot of ways to arrange such a production run to build confidence that such a thing were unlikely to occur (especially if there were, for example, a bitcoin-savvy go-between so I never interacted with the printing company myself).

[aantonop]

Am I correct in assuming that the scratch-off stickers will be provided with the sheets separately, and applied once printed?

Yes, the end-user will receive the sheets, generator code and stickers. They will print they keys and cover them at home, for max security.

If this is true, then each individual note/wallet would have one scratch off sticker (for the private key), and both QR codes on the stubs are exposed? Could you clarify how the stubs will work?

The stubs can work as optional component. If you check a checkbox in the generator, it puts QR codes in the stub boxes too, otherwise it leaves them blank. If you decide to print the stub as a backup for your notes, it prints an extra copy of the private/public key QRs that are on the left.

I would include enough security stickers to cover the private keys on all the stubs, too. So, two stickers per note.

It would be used like this: Print the keys onto the sheet of notes. Separate the notes. Cover the private key on the note and also on the stub with two scratch-off stickers. Tear off the stubs. Put all the notes in an envelope in a fire proof safe. Put all the stubs in another envelope and put in a bank security deposit box, or give to a trusted relative to store in their home, or put anywhere safe that is far from the other copy.

4 would fit on letter size pretty comfortably. The above example uses 1" squares for QR code blank areas The QR codes themselves should probably be a little smaller, since you want to be sure the scratch off area exceeds the size of the code and the code will need a bit of breathing room anyways. The perforations in this layout would be between each note, so there isn't really any room for bleed unless you changed it to two perforations between each note. Designers should account for accidental tearing...

There should be specific whitespace for the perforation lines. I will be taking this job to a professional offset printer with micro-perforation dies. They can align it down to 1/64" on color, sheet and cuts. For home-printing you will need a white buffer between notes, even if only 3-4 pixels, I think.

[aantonop]

Outsourcing professional paper wallets would be a fantastic idea I have wanted to inspire.  It can be done securely using a two-factor system.  Here is how it would work.

...

Casacius, excellent suggestion. I think this project could easily evolve to that goal eventually. For now, I'm keeping all the key-printing and security labels in the users hands, while doing the professional-grade pretty designs and perforations at a large professional printer. But since this will be open-sourced, it will be easy to adapt it to the process you suggest for a complete noob solution with no printing for the users.

The way I look at it, you did 1.0 with the coins, bitaddress.org did 2.0, my idea is 2.5 and what you're suggesting could be 3.0 built on top of this project's code and designs!

[acorn]

Hrm, I'm not so sure about putting white space on perforation lines, since you'll get a bit of white on the edges of the paper. Wouldn't it look better if the background of the design went all the way to the edge?



Would the image above be an accurate description of how the tool works? You'd generate the QR codes using the tool and it'd make some sort of resulting postscript file that would be printed over the sheets you provide.

[aantonop]

Hrm, I'm not so sure about putting white space on perforation lines, since you'll get a bit of white on the edges of the paper. Wouldn't it look better if the background of the design went all the way to the edge?

You're the designer, not me... Whatever you say.  

Would the image above be an accurate description of how the tool works? You'd generate the QR codes using the tool and it'd make some sort of resulting postscript file that would be printed over the sheets you provide.

YES, exactly. Amazing and clear.

I think it would be nice if the graphic design extended to the tear-off stub, at least the background color, rather than leaving that part blank completely. That way the stubs are pretty too.

I was also thinking of printing the first 4-6 letters of the public address on the note and stub, a bit like a serial number. That would make it easier to match the stub and note to each other, or to find the correct note from a stack of dozens.

Something like:

1DkvYc somewhere on the note and the stub. If you like the idea of a larger-size number/serial on all the notes, then there should be a location for it in the template, so that the designs can incorporate it, either with a white background, or not.

Again, I am open to suggestions and ideas and would like to do this collaboratively. You seem to be totally on-track with what I was hoping.

[acorn]

I think it would be nice if the graphic design extended to the tear-off stub, at least the background color, rather than leaving that part blank completely. That way the stubs are pretty too.

I was also thinking of printing the first 4-6 letters of the public address on the note and stub, a bit like a serial number. That would make it easier to match the stub and note to each other, or to find the correct note from a stack of dozens.

Something like:

1DkvYc somewhere on the note and the stub. If you like the idea of a larger-size number/serial on all the notes, then there should be a location for it in the template, so that the designs can incorporate it, either with a white background, or not.

Again, I am open to suggestions and ideas and would like to do this collaboratively. You seem to be totally on-track with what I was hoping.

I can modify the design we talked about to work some space for the firstbits, and extend the bg. PM sent re: the licensing.

[aantonop]

I am increasing the bounty to 10BTC, for more participation

Three Winners: 5BTC for the top contribution to the project, 2.5BTC x 2 for the next two best contributions.

[aantonop]

I've made two payments already for existing designs and work.

Transactions:

https://blockchain.info/tx/ad0a612ee02c4e549d8d21fd07f6c9a721659e55a7fe148e383ff54e93d19fcc
https://blockchain.info/tx/5a9b49bf476a79b517819a8dd727a00ed3eb15e62139f29f59ddbcae35274122


Thank you Timbo and acorn

[aantonop]

Any other designers interested?

Any web design/implementers interested in a second bounty?

Any JavaScript coders interested in a small JS bounty too?