Seeking feedback/suggestions: Bitcoin Poker Chips from BTCC Mint

[bobbyclee]

Hi all,

We're happy to say that we're now almost all sold out of our pre-August 1st (pre Bitcoin Cash hard fork) inventory of BTCC Mint's Bitcoin Chips.

I've been very happy with the quality of the chips, the color choices, the denominations, etc. 
(If you're curious, the colors are modeled after casino chips from Las Vegas casinos.)

What do you suggest or recommend next, in terms of Bitcoin poker chips?

- Some have suggested higher denominations, such as 1 BTC (or higher?)
- Some have suggested lower denominations, such as 500 bits, 100 bits...

Is it important to you all for the poker chips to have newly mined, uncirculated, "coinbase" bitcoin in them?
or is it okay to have generic "in-circulation" bitcoin in them? (less unique, but also less troublesome for us.)

Any other suggestions or feedback?

thanks,
Bobby

[TwinWinNerD]

Love the chips but I would also love more Titanium (or other non-precious metals) coins with lower than 0.5 denomination. If you had 100000bits titanium coins I would order a few rolls.

[krogothmanhattan]

I bought a 0.5 btc Titanium from btcc and loved the idea that it had newly minted "coinable" bitcoins in it. Quite unique and rare IMO.

Also lower value btc coins precious metal coins such as in the 0.1 and 0.2 BTC ranges would be nice too

[Raimonn]

Actual denominations for poker chips are great, for higher denominations like 1 BTC I prefer silver coins (or titanium if you have problems shipping silver outside China).
If you make new chips of less that 1.000 bits, I think that price would be more important (for new buyers) than being funded with newly mined bitcoin.
Hoping to see new BTCC chips on next year.

[AT101ET]

Given the price of BTC I think it'd be nice to include those new to the crypto scene in being able to buy physical coins too. Most coins (even the lower denominations are still costly). The face value of BTC alone on a 0.1BTC coin is about $400 not including the costs of manufacturing and the premium above that.
On the one hand you can create more high value coins for the serious collectors but lower denomination coins would be appealing to the new collectors.

[miffman]

I would definitely be interested to see some BTCC poker chips loaded with some other coins, that would be neat! (e.g. XMR, DCR, VIA, etc.)

But I can definitely understand that your primary focus is on BTC only 

[tothemoonsands]

I am with AT101ET - I would like to see low-cost, high volume chips that reach a demographic of new participants. The 1K chips came close, but never had the affordability as compared to say Satori Coin. The market desperately needs a maker with gravitas (such as BTCC) to come forward and become stewards of a mass market coin. This gets back to the roots of why Mike Caldwell invented Casascius.

That said, on the other end of the spectrum, a 1 BTC poker chip seems inevitable and very cool/desirable as well. Same with a fine gold G-Series akin to this latest S-Series.

Go both extremes IMO!

[houseboat]

YEEES! More chips!

At first I thought it would be cool to have an entire set of playable bitcoin chips, but quickly realized it's pretty silly and impractical. Actually I think you shouldn't make too low-denomination chips at all -- let's say 0.1 btc at the very minimum. Also, perhaps the cheaper chips and more expensive chips should be just subtly more distinguishable.

I do prefer denominations of 0.1 bitcoin to 100,000 bits, though don't feel too strongly about this either way.

+1 for newly minted coins! It makes it a lot more appealing to me and helps justify the premium.

We're happy to say that we're now almost all sold out of our pre-August 1st (pre Bitcoin Cash hard fork) inventory of BTCC Mint's Bitcoin Chips.

Almost sold out?! Is there a secret URL you want to share with us? Pleeease?  

[Blazed]

I can no longer buy any of your items since you have restricted the shipping so much. It is a shame since I have purchased a lot of your stuff via third parties in the past, but now that it is China only...no longer am able. I think a range of chips from

.05, .1, .25, .5, 1 would be nice. I would also love to see some more bars with lower amounts loaded rather than an entire block. How about some bars loaded 1, 2, 5, block?

[bobbyclee]

YEEES! More chips!

At first I thought it would be cool to have an entire set of playable bitcoin chips, but quickly realized it's pretty silly and impractical. Actually I think you shouldn't make too low-denomination chips at all -- let's say 0.1 btc at the very minimum. Also, perhaps the cheaper chips and more expensive chips should be just subtly more distinguishable.

I do prefer denominations of 0.1 bitcoin to 100,000 bits, though don't feel too strongly about this either way.

+1 for newly minted coins! It makes it a lot more appealing to me and helps justify the premium.

We're happy to say that we're now almost all sold out of our pre-August 1st (pre Bitcoin Cash hard fork) inventory of BTCC Mint's Bitcoin Chips.

Almost sold out?! Is there a secret URL you want to share with us? Pleeease?  

To make sure I didn't misunderstand your comment...
0.1 bitcoin is exactly 100,000 bits (1 bitcoin is 1 million bits)

or were you recommending something else?

thanks,
Bobby

[bavicrypto]

I would love a chip made out of actual gold. Like the one posted in the other thread

[vizique]

Hi Bobby

I think lower denomination chips are a great idea. One of the things that has been cool about your (and Satori) chips has been that they were great little give aways at events and gifts to new people.

Having chips available that fulfil that requirement seem to me to be a good idea. 500, 250, 100, 50 bits etc.

You may well see some from me yet!

Just my 2 satoshis.

Viz

[Ticked]

I'd love to be able to buy a 3-5 color 300/500 piece set that wouldn't break the bank. A truly playable set.

[Hhampuz]

I'd love to see some lower denoms for your chips such as the 500bits or 100bits. Help people to break them out and actually play with them without having to worry all too much about them.

I would not mind about them having circulated coins, if this could help you guys bring down cost I'm all for it. Otherwise I am very happy with the chips, extremely high quality and nice feel to them. The colours are nice too .

[houseboat]

To make sure I didn't misunderstand your comment...
0.1 bitcoin is exactly 100,000 bits (1 bitcoin is 1 million bits)

or were you recommending something else?

Of course it's the same; I meant I rather see 0.1 Bitcoin displayed on the chip rather than 100K bits (but like I said it doesn't matter too much). Sorry for the confusing wording.

Another thing to consider is mixing two of your products -- poker chips and metal coins. A special edition poker chip or other type of card protector (physical object placed on top of your cards while playing) would be really interesting. These usually have a larger diameter than normal chips to distinguish them easily.

Also, is it true you will only ship to China now?! Obviously my first request would be to fix that. 

Thanks for making an awesome product and requesting feedback!

[bobbyclee]

I'd love to be able to buy a 3-5 color 300/500 piece set that wouldn't break the bank. A truly playable set.

The issue is that the eventual selling price of each chip would be several dollars, and that's the overhead on top of whatever the BTC value is in them.

In other words, whatever lower denominations of BTC, the poker chips with BTC loaded would NEVER be priced competitively with regular poker chips you buy at the store.  Would that still be acceptable?

The other issue is that with smaller denominations of BTC, it becomes increasingly ineffective, cost-wise, to redeem them.  As the TX fee alone would constitute a larger and larger portion of the total amount.  (Even if SegWit addresses are used, the fees would be so high!)

thanks,
Bobby

[bobbyclee]

To make sure I didn't misunderstand your comment...
0.1 bitcoin is exactly 100,000 bits (1 bitcoin is 1 million bits)

or were you recommending something else?

Of course it's the same; I meant I rather see 0.1 Bitcoin displayed on the chip rather than 100K bits (but like I said it doesn't matter too much). Sorry for the confusing wording.

Another thing to consider is mixing two of your products -- poker chips and metal coins. A special edition poker chip or other type of card protector (physical object placed on top of your cards while playing) would be really interesting. These usually have a larger diameter than normal chips to distinguish them easily.

Also, is it true you will only ship to China now?! Obviously my first request would be to fix that. 

Thanks for making an awesome product and requesting feedback!

We're using the "bits" standard to promote that, as I firmly believe that Bitcoin prices will go up in the future.

Our poker chips are designed in mind to be complimentary to our titanium coins.  The V-Series titanium One Bitcoin is 43 mm in size, which is larger than our 39 mm chips, and is definitely useful as a card protector.  (I know that because I used it like that last year, when BTC prices was ~$400-$600.  Now, with prices at >$4,000, it's too pricey and too risky to use as a chip protector.)

Happy to hear that you like the product!  I also really like the quality & color combinations of our Bitcoin Chips. 

thanks,
Bobby

[bobbyclee]

I'd love to see some lower denoms for your chips such as the 500bits or 100bits. Help people to break them out and actually play with them without having to worry all too much about them.

I would not mind about them having circulated coins, if this could help you guys bring down cost I'm all for it. Otherwise I am very happy with the chips, extremely high quality and nice feel to them. The colours are nice too .

Thanks for the compliments!

Yes, we can consider using circulated coins, as that would reduce cost and make logistics easier.
However, see my posts above about my concerns with lower denominations, namely:
- overall price of chips will still be high, and won't be competitive with what you can buy in the market
- lower denominations (500, 200, 100 bits, or less) would be ineffective in terms of eventual redemption & sweeping (even with using SegWit addresses, which might be cheaper with tx fees.)

thanks,
Bobby

[Ticked]

I'd love to be able to buy a 3-5 color 300/500 piece set that wouldn't break the bank. A truly playable set.

The issue is that the eventual selling price of each chip would be several dollars, and that's the overhead on top of whatever the BTC value is in them.

In other words, whatever lower denominations of BTC, the poker chips with BTC loaded would NEVER be priced competitively with regular poker chips you buy at the store.  Would that still be acceptable?

The other issue is that with smaller denominations of BTC, it becomes increasingly ineffective, cost-wise, to redeem them.  As the TX fee alone would constitute a larger and larger portion of the total amount.  (Even if SegWit addresses are used, the fees would be so high!)

thanks,
Bobby

Absolutely acceptable.   This isnt for the hobby poker play buying 300 sets at cvs for $40. i mean who buys BTC coins at the store This set however would be exquisite. top quality clay chips typically are priced in the low dollar per chip range.  I play often and typically provide a 650 chip set with a set of plates for higher values (all non denominational) Something as simple as 25 sat, 50 sat, 100 sat,  500 sat, 1k sat. (or whatever makes sense for you) a new micro chip set, that id happily bring to card night.  A lot of the cohorts ive gotten into crypto have been poker players. so please, 13 gram clay, no composite.  Of course whatever premium comes with manufacturing is acceptible, but id love if this was an endless supply thing. if at the end of the night, guys wanna keep their chips rather than cash out, the ability to replenish supply would be fantastic for marketing and ongoing sales. as for redemption....if its a marketing tool and product, why care about redemption? They are still serving a purpose. further, perhaps fees will decrease eventually or even enough chain splits may make redemption worth it.

Regardless, I never thought of use  for redeem. mostly novelty and spread awareness at what is currently a potentially reasonable sum per set. a price under 2k for a for a 500 set (650 set prefered) loaded would be very attractive imo. of course more details needed.  Glad to talk more on this. i have more thoughts.

thanks for the reply

[bobbyclee]

I'd love to be able to buy a 3-5 color 300/500 piece set that wouldn't break the bank. A truly playable set.

The issue is that the eventual selling price of each chip would be several dollars, and that's the overhead on top of whatever the BTC value is in them.

In other words, whatever lower denominations of BTC, the poker chips with BTC loaded would NEVER be priced competitively with regular poker chips you buy at the store.  Would that still be acceptable?

The other issue is that with smaller denominations of BTC, it becomes increasingly ineffective, cost-wise, to redeem them.  As the TX fee alone would constitute a larger and larger portion of the total amount.  (Even if SegWit addresses are used, the fees would be so high!)

thanks,
Bobby

Absolutely acceptable.   This isnt for the hobby poker play buying 300 sets at cvs for $40. i mean who buys BTC coins at the store This set however would be exquisite. top quality clay chips typically are priced in the low dollar per chip range.  I play often and typically provide a 650 chip set with a set of plates for higher values (all non denominational) Something as simple as 25 sat, 50 sat, 100 sat,  500 sat, 1k sat. (or whatever makes sense for you) a new micro chip set, that id happily bring to card night.  A lot of the cohorts ive gotten into crypto have been poker players. so please, 13 gram clay, no composite.  Of course whatever premium comes with manufacturing is acceptible, but id love if this was an endless supply thing. if at the end of the night, guys wanna keep their chips rather than cash out, the ability to replenish supply would be fantastic for marketing and ongoing sales. as for redemption....if its a marketing tool and product, why care about redemption? They are still serving a purpose. further, perhaps fees will decrease eventually or even enough chain splits may make redemption worth it.

Regardless, I never thought of use  for redeem. mostly novelty and spread awareness at what is currently a potentially reasonable sum per set. a price under 2k for a for a 500 set (650 set prefered) loaded would be very attractive imo. of course more details needed.  Glad to talk more on this. i have more thoughts.

thanks for the reply

Thanks for the suggestions.

For your 650-chip set, what denominations (in bits) and what amounts of each color/denomination would you recommend, to make up the 650 chips?


thanks,
Bobby