Best way to pay with BTC in person

[Bazil]

Yeah I think the best system, besides using bitbills, would be for them to generate a unique bitcoin address for you to send the money to.  I think there are services for doing that out there.  Then just use your phone to send the money.

Now a nice integrated system would be one where the 2d barcode of the bitcoin address for the payment could be printed on the bill.  Then just use an app to read the barcode and send the bit coins.  That would be even easier than credit card.

[muscles]

We need an iPhone/Andriod app that

• generates a QR code on your screen of: your BTC wallet address & the amount to transfer.
• Scans QR codes for BTC address and amount.
• Transfers money from your wallet to the scanned address after confirming the amount

Retailers would generate a QR code that includes their BTC wallet address and the price. When you buy something, you scan the QR and your app says, "are you sure you want to send 5.95 to sGd7S7dD6jjSD76sd?" You click yes, and the transfer is made. The app would also need to be a wallet itself (or interface with a web-hosted wallet) so you can verify that you the money was sent/received.

It's probably not a huge project, a weekend project for the right person.

[Blackhawke]

I'm going to New York soon and plan on visiting Meze Grill. I was reading about how the writer of that article paid, and it just seems so complicated. Is there a better way? I considered Bitbills or something, but even that, I don't know how I would get change. So what's the best way to pay for something in person?

Probably the best way will be with your smart phone -- when the apps are finished and fully functional, anyway. On the android platform there are at least three apps in development:

Bitcoin Wallet is one app, I gather develped by someone intimately involved with the bitcon project. Like all three apps listed, it sends and receives coins, keeping a wallet on your phone. Unfortuanately it currently only runs in test mode, and on my phone anyway, crashes horribly.

Bitcoiner is another idea. It connects to the bitcoin(d) running on your desktop. Like bitcoin wallet it can send and receive coins, but instead of creating a wallet on your phone, it uses the one on your desktop. I guess some folks have gotten it to work. I can't get it to connect to my bitcoind, even though I typically have over a dozen connections. Repeated emails to the developer about the problem have been ignored.

Bitcoin is the third app I've looked at and is almost identical to bitcoin wallet, except it is operational. Like wallet, it creates a wallet (that I can't find, even with Root Explorer) on your phone. The app is still in development, however, so the developer includes a wise warning against making large transactions at this time.

All the programs either have, or make use of, a barcode app to generate a QR code for receiving coins or to read a QR code for sending coins. So in that sense, if they worked, paying with bitcoins would be no more trouble than whipping out your wallet. In fact, you could say that's exactly what you'd be doing -- just electronically.

Unfortunately, the only app that has been updated in the month they've been on my phone is Bitcoin Wallet, which took the app from amusing to use for test purposes (since it dosn't do live transactions) to completely broken and unusable. The other two have not been updated at all, even though they, like bitcoin wallet, are still in the early stages of development. This seems to me to be mute testimony to how (un)important POS transactions presently are in the bitcoin community. And that's not helping bitcoin's popularity in community storefronts.

As for BitBills: I love the idea, but unless bitcoin drops in value, I don't see much purpose for them unless they also come up with BitChange. Currnetly, an accepting merchant would have to destroy every bill received and credit back the difference electronically anyway, which rather defeats the purpose of an a physical form of the currency.

[tomcollins]

Or you could just use your myb.tc ID when talking on the phone.  But clearly, an easier way for people to pay merchants face-to-face is needed.  I suspect smart people are working on this problem as we speak.

I thought about using Bitbills and giving them my myb.tc ID for change. I'm thinking of some system where I could just walk into a place, spend money, and leave. Not carry a laptop, scan a QR code with my phone, send it to my computer, wait for the owner to check the exchange rate, and then send Bitcoins.

There's this great thing called cash for that.

[Distribution]

Or you could just use your myb.tc ID when talking on the phone.  But clearly, an easier way for people to pay merchants face-to-face is needed.  I suspect smart people are working on this problem as we speak.

I thought about using Bitbills and giving them my myb.tc ID for change. I'm thinking of some system where I could just walk into a place, spend money, and leave. Not carry a laptop, scan a QR code with my phone, send it to my computer, wait for the owner to check the exchange rate, and then send Bitcoins.

There's this great thing called cash for that.

Maybe developers should look at this "cash" thing as a model.

[Bazil]

The thing is, Bitcoins are easier to carry and move than cash.  All we need is the software to make it easy for one on one in person sale.

[abednego]

The thing is, Bitcoins are easier to carry and move than cash.  All we need is the software to make it easy for one on one in person sale.

The inherent problem with personal transactions is the size of the client; cumbersome for computers and even more so for portable devices.  I believe that Bitcoin banks with tied and exchange rate flexible debit cards will be the best way to bring them to market.

[Dobrodav]

Well, let`s think now about - "How to pay bitcoins in prison". It is interesting question and simple, but nice rhyme for OP subj.

[brendio]

I've had some thoughts on this, but thought it enough to start a new thread for further discussion.

http://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=24642.new#new

I've been thinking about the issue of the current need for portable wallet technology to spend bitcoin at point of sale locations, such as Meze Grill. I present here my idea for critique and possible application from someone with the required knowhow to implement. My idea is a combination of Bitbills, Cassius's paper wallets and the metal engraved cards. My idea focuses not so much on security so much as portability. The idea is an application that would allow one to print their own Bitcoin keypairs (and even better, corresponding QR codes) to make single-use paper Bitcoin currency is various demoniations (e.g. 1, 0.5, 0.1, 0.05 BTC etc.)

What I envisage is a program that can print the key pairs off the grid if required and print either directly to a printer of via a pdf file. Ideally, you would be able to use a template for print the paper money on to standard sized sheets, such as perforated business card printer sheets. You could make it such that you fold the card to hide the private key and seal it with a tamper-evident sticker, but leave the public key and QR code linked to the block explorer address visible, as well as having the denomination value printed on the card. Basically, it is a home made Bitbill, but without the extra security features.

Then, either the program or the user loads the card by sending bitcoins from the user's wallet to the paper money address.

Since I've made and loaded the money myself, I don't need to trust a third party keeping a copy of the private key. I do however, need to keep the paper money physically secure, just like the other money in my wallet.

Now when I go to a restaurant and need to pay my bill, I just hand over the required amounts of paper Bitcoin money to the owner, who then reveals then private key and transfers the balance to his account. I could also keep a card in my physical wallet with an address of my own for receiving change if I don't have the exact change in paper money.

Would anyone be interested in implementing such a solution?

Please understand what this is and isn't supposed to be. This is a means to make Bitcoin as portable as paper money without needing to carry a laptop or smartphone to make a payment (okay, the merchant still need technology, so it is perhaps more akin to a prepaid debit card). This is not meant for storing large amounts of Bitcoin, only for what you would ordinarily carry in your physical wallet. This is not meant for people receiving the Bitcoin paper money to be able to spend again. It is for single use only, as the recipient has no way to know that you have not kept a copy of the private key and can spend it before they redeem it. This is intended to be lower cost than BitBills, and available in any desired value.

Addendum: The major problem with implementing such a system right now is the inability of the standard client to import key pairs. So a useful interim solution would be a website running siba's patch that allows you to input a private pair and make a transaction to another Bitcoin address. This could then be used by the merchant to redeem the paper Bitcoin money.