Bit Notes...... Any demand for them?

[SimplyBTC]

I've just designed a Bit Note and was wondering if there was any interest in marketing them. I have printed them on cotton paper to make them as close to real money as possible. On the right hand side is a QR code and the wallet address so anyone can check the balance.

On the left is the private key and QR code to redeem the balance. I have protected this by a scratch area (a bit like a lottery scratch card) that you need to rub off in order to see the key. Also, there is a tamper proof hologram as seen in the picture over this. This is peeled off to reveal the scratch area as a double security layer.

1 BTC is currently £99. The benefit of these is that you can keep all your bitcoins safe at home rather than in one wallet that could be hacked. Imagine losing 10 BTC because a website goes down or you account is hacked. You don't need to keep any details online or on your computer and they look pretty good.




p.s there is nothing on this wallet so don't bother trying to redeem it 

Any thoughts or suggestions? Would anyone want them (I'm UK based)?

The private keys are all generated off line and no record is kept so you don't have to worry about that. Anyone buying them can see my 10 year trading on ebay and can have my address, occupation, phone number etc.

Chris

[realdos]

The problem with this design is by receiving this bit note, the receiver is actually putting himself/herself into a risky situation, as one is not certain whether the issuer of this bit note will redeem it at any moment. For example, say you issue such bit note and someone pay it to me to gain some service or commodity. As a receiver, I check the address and find there is some bitcoin there. But I'm not sure whether it will still be there during the period I hold this note. What if you the issuer secretly redeem the note and run? I will be left nothing in that situation.

[bitcoinchecker]

They look nice. Well done.

What do you envisage them being used for?

Gifts maybe?

[BTCLuke]

Yeah, you've got to give buyers a reason to trust you and everyone on your side so they feel you can't or have vested interest to never redeem these yourself.

If you can at least offer some small token of assurance, I'd try selling some on BitMit and talk to the guy over at BTCQuick about them.

Nice design,
Good luck!

[SimplyBTC]

Thanks for the feedback. I suppose the main issue is trust. If you look at my ebay account its over 10 years old with 100% positive feedback and I have absolutely no desire to change this. It's more than my job is worth to rip someone off for a few bitcoins so I suppose the buyer needs to trust that I won't keep a record of the private keys (which I don't as they are printed out 100 at a time and never saved anywhere). I can't really see a way round this at the moment.

The main reasons people would buy them are:

1. Gifts to get people involved in bitcoins
2. Paypal is accepted for these giving an extra payment option and offering protection. Sending people bank transfers is not always 100% safe.
3. Security. I hate holding any large quantity of bitcoin in a single wallet and worry my computer will be breached or hacked. This way I could keep lots of paper 0.5 BTC and never have to worry that anyone will be able to steal them all.

[rebuilder]

Isn't this the bitaddress.org paper wallet design with a sticker on the private key? I'm not saying anything about the utility of the note itself, but credit where credit is due, right?

[BTCLuke]

Isn't this the bitaddress.org paper wallet design with a sticker on the private key? I'm not saying anything about the utility of the note itself, but credit where credit is due, right?

Whoa, good catch! The exact artwork...

But it's an open-source design from github: https://github.com/pointbiz/bitaddress.org

Guess he can do that, I think.

[rebuilder]

Isn't this the bitaddress.org paper wallet design with a sticker on the private key? I'm not saying anything about the utility of the note itself, but credit where credit is due, right?

Whoa, good catch! The exact artwork...

But it's an open-source design from github: https://github.com/pointbiz/bitaddress.org

Guess he can do that, I think.

Sure, but claiming to have designed it is going a bit far IMO, without mentioning the source.

[TippingPoint]

Thanks for the feedback. I suppose the main issue is trust. If you look at my ebay account its over 10 years old with 100% positive feedback and I have absolutely no desire to change this. It's more than my job is worth to rip someone off for a few bitcoins so I suppose the buyer needs to trust that I won't keep a record of the private keys (which I don't as they are printed out 100 at a time and never saved anywhere). I can't really see a way round this at the moment.

The main reasons people would buy them are:

1. Gifts to get people involved in bitcoins
2. Paypal is accepted for these giving an extra payment option and offering protection. Sending people bank transfers is not always 100% safe.
3. Security. I hate holding any large quantity of bitcoin in a single wallet and worry my computer will be breached or hacked. This way I could keep lots of paper 0.5 BTC and never have to worry that anyone will be able to steal them all.

Positive Feedback:  100%
Feedback score:  671

I believe you.

And those really are good reasons.

[kodo]

Woah, this is really cool!

[raze]

Isn't this the bitaddress.org paper wallet design with a sticker on the private key? I'm not saying anything about the utility of the note itself, but credit where credit is due, right?

Whoa, good catch! The exact artwork...

But it's an open-source design from github: https://github.com/pointbiz/bitaddress.org

Guess he can do that, I think.

Sure, but claiming to have designed it is going a bit far IMO, without mentioning the source.

Agreed. However, he said he printed them on cotton paper, which I guess gives a unique edge to what he's selling.

[rebuilder]

Agreed. However, he said he printed them on cotton paper, which I guess gives a unique edge to what he's selling.

Different issue. To get back to the original subject of the thread - no, I don't see why these would be particularly desirable. The differences between buying one of these and printing a paper wallet yourself are:

-These will look nicer.
-You have to trust the seller to not store the private keys.

That's about it. The security hologram and scratch surface don't add much value IMO. Casascius coins use them because they are intended to be passed along. You can't use these for payment without accessing the private keys, or at least you shouldn't - these bills are much easier to forge than Casascius coins. So these are only useful for private storage, and for that, getting better paper and a flashy hologram does not seem to offset the risk of having to trust someone with your private keys.

[SimplyBTC]

Right, I'm still making progress with these. The original artwork is open source and you can of course print them off yourself. However, not everyone can spend the time doing this and you usually have to buy the holograms and scratch area in bulk which is a pretty expensive way if you just want one as a gift. Then of course you have to use your own details to load the note which is what some people want to avoid in the first place.

I'm going to use www.bit2factor.org to make these '2 factor' bit notes. That way whenever someone buys one they enter a password on the site to generate an intermediate code. They then give this to me to generate the wallet address and private key. Without the original paraphrase they know there is no way I could ever redeem their funds which are now still stored off line and not in a single account. How does this sound?

Ill produce a batch next Monday and anyone wanting one can visit the site for one.

[sacko]

Nice. How much will they cost (approx.)?

[atomium]

These look awesome!

How durable are they, how about sun or heat damage?

[SimplyBTC]

That's for the replies. The cotton paper certainly makes a difference. I haven't done any long term tests yet but the ink seems fine for heat and sun. Just in the process of testing the security stickers to make sure they can't be removed. The cost is going to be £99 for 1 BTC. This seems to be the best I can get on the exchanges plus cost of materials. I can do other denominations as well. Postage would be around £6 for next day delivery or free 1st class.

Www.simplyBTC.co.uk

[The 4ner]

Pretty cool idea!

[realdos]

My points:
1. Everyone could make a paper wallet. The value you added on this product is the material you use to make the paper wallet (cotton) and the sticker you choose which somehow may be better than what people could get themselves (just a guess).
2. It's still too complicated for people to understand the two-factor bitcoin idea. IMHO, if people would spend time trying to understand this concept, they may be willing to make the paper wallet themselves rather than buy it online...

[wopwop]

I need new toilet paper

so yes, this could be useful

as long as its soft paper

[data_teks]

   Yeah, I have been using this same design in my eBay auctions (see signature) for awhile now. Two people have bought from me and I actually had to create a note and send it to them (they didn't want instant transfer for some reason). However, I let them know of the security risk and encourage them to send/transfer the bitcoins as soon as they receive it. For my eBay notes that I did this with, I actually kept a copy of the private key until I can confirm they receive it just to avoid any issues with lost mail..etc  

Luckily of all my sales, I have only had to do this twice and it was for .10 bitcoins each time.


BTW; I actually have the tools to create my own paper from pulp (I do it for some of my drawings).  Been thinking about creating notes with a UV security strip (1 BTC..etc), color shifting ink and watermarks; much like US currency does. Would be a lot harder to counterfeit than a casascius coin but wouldn't have that same public trust that Mike has at the moment.