 |
September 03, 2017, 06:47:47 PM |
|
Many thanks to Vizique for listing/ selling and promised to find login here (been a few years, so apologies for rant!) to provide a bit more detail.
TGBEX was setup in 2014 to promote bitcoin ownership via physical coins/ offline wallets - the company was launched in the Isle of Man (where it remains fully incorporated, licensed, banked etc), with the catalyst being the legal issues faced by Casascius (impossible to operate in a hostile environment like the US?) - imho physical coins remain one of the best ways to educate, arouse interest and promote bitcoin the world needs physical bitcoins.
Every coin is engraved/ etched and signed off by 2 people on a certificate (I have signed every one) to say the coin has been sealed and the private key destroyed (does NOT mean they are 'loaded').
The coins are kept deliberately simple to allow access to as many people as possible - whilst recognising the benefits of 2FA/ MFA, they create huge complications (eg are all these security methods going to be compatible with all forks/ future forks?) and shortened keys etc bring different risks - aim was to make the nicest coins out there that the most people could understand/ use/ trust.
The coins have roped edges/ intricate design/ unusual size etc to try and add security/ reduce likelihood of forgeries (at least makes it more expensive to try/ easier to spot any fakes) - coins/ equipment/ stock etc all kept in seperate locations for security and do everything possible to keep the coins protected/ secure/ 'valid'.
From a business perspective the bitcoin price has rescued the company, whilst we sold (loaded) bitcoins to approx 10 different countries to a total value of approx 70BTC - the company never really got off the ground for all kinds of reasons- original business partner (Richard Owusu) stole cash, coins and left a mess, well known scamster (John James Bridge) stole 6 BTC and a few coins, also gave away about 10 coins to people who promised to help sell them - a few tried, but coins just seemed to get stashed away!
Too early to market in some ways, but simple things like website crashing whenever marketing efforts were made and endlessly changing regulations didnt help, so self inflicted pains of setting up a company in bitcoin...
Slowly grew the company, but personal issues put a stop to things in 2016, just as business became profitable (ex-wife had an affair with a (part-time) fireman for all of 2015 behind my back, then kicked me out of my house/office (paid for by my life's work in offices) with all kinds of lies and has been harassing me ever since - if anything needs a blockchain solution it is the Irish family law system!) - I was forced back into finance (accountant by trade) and had promised to close down TGBEX (actually couldn't as had to apply for licence as operating in 2015!) and the company has been 'dormant' for 12-18 months.
Currently consulting/ looking at the future and thinking of relaunching given structure is all 'live' (in theory we are licensed to sell >500BTC of physical coins daily through UK banking system... but looking at denominations/ improving security/ possibility of different cryptocurrencies first and it is a very different industry now).
The Genesis edition of TGBEX coins will not be continued (maybe an Exodus edition next..) - original idea was never to allow 'unloaded' coins into the wild, but slowly became unsustainable (due to price and turning down 90% of potential business) and have sold a number of unloaded coind over the last 12 months.
To think we debated whether spending £100 on each of the wooden boxes was too much for a 10BTC coin...
In total of the coins 'minted' there are 600 of the normal coins (numbered, as there are some unnumbered given away for displays etc) and 100 silver.
There are 25 of each of the silver coins - 10s, 20s, 50s (and 25s which were made in error/ all unmade).
The number 2 and 3 of the 20s and 50s are lost (removed together to be made from stock, but never made), so there will only ever be 23 of the silver 20s.
Had promised Vizique some early edition coins (when I was stubbornly sticking to the 'only loaded' idea) a few years ago, so this coin is part of a package of those coins reserved a while ago.
The coins are essentially an offline paper wallet - you have to trust me (Adrian Forbes) and my associates that we have not copied or retained the private key engraved on each coin - second hand sales add an extra layer of risk, so please be careful if using as an offline wallet- this coin was part of a package personally sent to Vizique recently so have no reason to suspect the coin has in any way been compromised/ copied.
Encourage everyone to generate their own offline wallets (hope to relaunch crypart in the coming future as well which was setup with this idea in mind, but every customer to date has trusted us to generate priavte keys, so what can you do!!).
PS Recently tested redeeming a coin - safely moved bitcoin and bcash using mycelium/ coinami to exchanges for sale, so they do work in the event of forks, just hope we dont have to test nuclear war next...
|
