Ballet's new pre-halving 2020 Bitcoin Block -- You can order now.

[bobbyclee]

Hi all,

As teased here a few days ago, I'm excited to share that we have now soft-launched the new Bitcoin Block:
https://block.balletcrypto.com

I personally think this is one of the the ultimate Bitcoin collectible for true HODLers and hardcore Bitcoin fans. It's your chance to own a physical "bitcoin block" before the May 2020 halving, containing the full block reward including the transaction fees (that's 12.5+ BTC), coming straight from the mining pool. This is truly virgin bitcoin; zero hops and straight via the block's coinbase transaction. This is as real as it gets, in terms of owning a piece of Bitcoin history; owning a block from the blockchain. In our frequent analogies where Bitcoin is digital gold, it's like owning a large rare piece of a gold nugget, coming straight from the gold mine!

As a true fan of Bitcoin collectibles and physical bitcoins, I wanted to share this new product with all of you first, so that you can order now, and get in on the low serial numbers before we formally announce this product to the public. You have a few days head start!

Important Notes

• Please ensure you have enough BTC funds available before you place the order. This product is very expensive (1.0 BTC mining service fee + 13.3 BTC mining deposit), and the USD $99 price is not refundable.
• The current photos and diagrams shown for this product are just photo renders, and they are not actual photographs of the actual product. The product is still being manufactured, and the final product could have slight differences from the current photos and diagrams.
• There is a small user-assembly component to this product. See step #7 in the Ordering Procedure section below for more details.
• All Bitcoin Blocks are made-to-order, so we will not have any additional inventory for sale later. If you want to purchase the pre-halving 2020 Bitcoin Block, please order here now.
• The Bitcoin Blocks have ascending serial numbers, and the Blocks will ship out in sequence of when you place your order. This means that the sooner you order, the lower the serial number you'll get.
• Once you’ve placed the order on our web store, the USD $99 price is non-refundable, even if you later decide to not take delivery and not pay for the mining of the block.
• Supplies are very limited, so please place your order soon, to ensure you get a pre-halving Bitcoin Block.
• For these pre-halving Bitcoin Blocks, we will likely stop taking new orders around April 15, or whenever supplies run out.
• The USD $99 price is non-refundable and you also need to pay for the mining service fee and the mining deposit. To purchase the product, there is a mandatory mining service fee of 1.0 BTC, to be paid after the order is placed. As this is a made-to-order product, please fully read the Pricing and Important Notes sections below before placing your order. Once your order is placed, the USD $99 is NOT refundable.

Bitcoin Block

Ballet’s new Bitcoin Block is a bitcoin collectible masterpiece, created by turning Bitcoin “digital gold” into physical form, made of advanced titanium as used by the aerospace industry. It is designed as a physical square block, to represent a real world version of a block in the ever-expanding blockchain. We created the Bitcoin Block specifically for savvy bitcoin investors who want to hold a piece of history in their hands. Over time, as the block rewards continue to go down by half every four years, the value of this product will surely go up, and there will be real prestige in owning a whole Bitcoin Block in physical form.

>>> Order Now <<<



Features

• Full Bitcoin Block Reward: Bitcoin Blocks contain the entire coinbase reward of a newly-mined block. This includes both the base block reward of 12.5 BTC (6.25 BTC after the halving) as well as all transaction fees mined in that block.
• Virgin Bitcoins: The bitcoins come straight from our mining pool partner, mined directly from the coinbase transaction in each block, straight to your physical Bitcoin Block, with no intermediate hops. These bitcoins have no prior transaction history, and thus provide the highest level of privacy.
• Physical Bearer Asset: Bitcoin Blocks are physical bearer assets, with no external dependencies such as passwords or third-party accounts. Whoever has physical possession of the Bitcoin Block controls the funds.
• Two-Factor Private Keys: Bitcoin Blocks are made using Ballet’s innovative Two-Factor Key Generation (2FKG) process, which utilizes the industry standard BIP38 process to split the private key into two components (the BIP38 passphrase and the encrypted private key). Blocks are manufactured in two separate steps in two different locations around the world. This provides what we consider to be the highest level of private key security for the customer.

Pricing

• Price of the Bitcoin Block is USD $99 and once ordered, this is not refundable.
• Mining service fee of 1.0 BTC, to be paid in BTC directly to Ballet after the order is placed.
• Mining deposit of 13.3 BTC, to be paid in BTC directly to the mining pool after the order is placed. The difference between 13.3 and the total amount mined to the block will be refunded to the customer.

To summarize: the price premium of the Bitcoin Block is 1.0 BTC (the mining service fee), and you will separately pay the mining pool for the full BTC value of the mined block (send 13.3 BTC deposit first, then get refund after the block is mined).



Ordering Procedure

Important: all Bitcoin Blocks are made-to-order, so we will not have any additional inventory for sale later if you do not place your order directly with Ballet now. Before you place your order, please read the following carefully to fully understand the whole ordering process. Bitcoin Block is a combination of physical product and bitcoin mining service, so that in order to receive the product, the customer would need to pay both the mining service fee and the mining deposit after payment of the product in the order checkout process. This means Ballet will NOT separately sell the unfunded empty block for USD $99 without the mining service.

1) On the Ballet official store at order checkout, the customer pays a non-refundable USD $99 for the product cost of the Bitcoin Block. To place an order, the customer must provide the following details:

• Full name
• Delivery address (all details, including: street address, apartment unit, postal code, country)
• Mobile phone number
• Email address
• Customer-created 8-digit order PIN code that will be used to authenticate email communications.
• Bitcoin refund address to receive the excess BTC amount from the mining of the block. Please note that this refund address CANNOT be changed after the order is placed. Please be sure you control this bitcoin address, and make sure it will be valid for use up through May 20, 2020, as the excess deposit refund could take some time to process.
  

2) After the order is placed, Ballet will send an email to the customer (from block@balletcrypto.com) providing two bitcoin deposit addresses: one for the mining service fee (1.0 BTC) and one for the mining deposit for the block reward (13.3 BTC). IMPORTANT: To authenticate this email as legitimately coming from Ballet, we will reference both the order  number and the 8-digit order PIN code provided by the customer during the ordering process. For further confirmation, this information will also be sent via SMS to the customer’s mobile phone number.

3) Once the payment request email is sent to the customer, they are now required within 48 hours to make two separate bitcoin payments to the two bitcoin addresses provided in the email and SMS:

• 1.0 BTC for the mining service fee.
• 13.3 BTC as the mining deposit to the mining pool to mine the block reward directly to the physical Bitcoin Block.

4) Once the bitcoin payments are received, Ballet will ship the unfunded Bitcoin Block to the customer by express courier. The customer will need to confirm delivery of the Bitcoin Block in order to proceed to the next step.

5) After the customer confirms physical delivery of the Bitcoin Block, the mining pool will mine a new block with a coinbase transaction sending the entire block reward and all transaction fees directly to the Bitcoin address of your Bitcoin Block.

6) After the Bitcoin Block is funded, the customer will be informed of the block height and exact amount of BTC, which can be verified directly on the Bitcoin blockchain. If the funded amount is less than the 13.3 BTC mining pool deposit, the excess amount will be sent back to the customer’s BTC refund address provided in the initial ordering process. (If in the unlikely scenario that the total mined amount is higher than 13.3 BTC, the customer will have to send in additional BTC to cover for that amount. If this happens, additional instructions will be sent out.)

7) Once we know the actual block height and the full block reward amount, we will create a custom set of stick-on letterings (high quality metallic style raised lettering) to denote the actual block height and block reward amount. We will then send this lettering stick-on set to the customer to affix onto the Bitcoin Block. Detailed instructions will be included.

If you have any questions, please contact us at block@balletcrypto.com and we will guide you through the process step by step.

>>> Order Now <<<


BTCC Mint Legacy

Bobby Lee, founder and CEO of Ballet, was previously the co-founder and CEO of BTCC until its acquisition in early 2018. Mr. Lee was the creator of the BTCC Mint series of physical bitcoin collectibles, which are among the most highly regarded in the industry. From 2016 to 2018, BTCC Mint produced and sold physical bitcoins in a variety of different physical formats, from coins to blocks to poker chips. In total, BTCC Mint produced over 22,000 physical bitcoin collectibles, containing over 8,700 BTC in total.

With Mr. Lee as CEO, Ballet has inherited BTCC Mint’s legacy. With all of the core team members of BTCC Mint on board, Ballet has unique and unparalleled experience and expertise in production of physical bitcoins. We put security and privacy above everything else, and our long track record is evidence of that.

The security of BTCC Mint collectibles has never been compromised. To date, all physical bitcoins created by BTCC Mint either remain intact in the original physical coins, or the bitcoins were transferred safely to other addresses by the owner. No complaints of fraud or security failure have ever been filed or reported. Mr. Lee is proud of this clean track record as coinmaker of BTCC Mint and will uphold the same high standard at Ballet.


Technical Specifications

• Product Name: Bitcoin Block
• Width: 80 mm
• Height: 80 mm
• Thickness: 10 mm
• Weight: 283 g
• Material: Titanium

Please post any additional questions you may have, and we'll try our best to answer as soon as possible. We will update our website accordingly, and may even put out a FAQ.

As mentioned before, the BalletCrypto username on this forum is our official company account, so we will be posting from there as well. I vouch for that account, and I've already added Trust to that profile.

Over the next few days, we will continue to fix any errors on our website and our store order page, so please bear with us.

Hope you all enjoy this chance to own a piece of Bitcoin history!

>>> Order Now <<<

thanks,
Bobby

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[bobbyclee]

Some additional insights to share with everyone:

- Since early 2019, after starting Ballet, I've wanted to carry over from BTCC Mint and create a 2020 version of the Bitcoin Block, so that we can have blocks both before and after the block reward halving even in May.

- For this Bitcoin Block, we got started in earnest in January, refining the designs, etc.  However, the coronavirus situation in China put a pause in the work and we didn't get to resume on late February. There were some significant delays, but thankfully, we'll still make it in time, for having blocks made before the halving event in mid-May.

- Thankfully, the titanium hardware is already in manufacturing, and we will receive our first samples soon. (The downside is that we won't have time to make additional changes...)

- There are 2 major differences from how we made the Bitcoin Blocks back at BTCC Mint in 2016:

   1) We are using Ballet's new 2FKG process, to have 2-factor private keys, instead of the single private key during BTCC Mint days. We strongly believe that this is a *safer* approach to manufacturing physical bitcoin collectables. This means that the manufacturing will take place in two countries (China and USA), and this there's additional time delay built in, to transport the parts around the world, especially during this coronavirus shutdown time.

   2) We decided to ship the blocks to customers first, before mining the bitcoins into it. The reason is simple: the value is too great now, to allow for shipping loaded physical bitcoins. There are all sorts of insurance and customs and tax issues, if the product was sold & shipped as loaded. Now, we're able to just sell the empty Bitcoin Block, where the customer pays the mining pool for the loading of the block, all done after the customer receives the block. Again, this also adds time to the process.

- As we are a USA company, for regulatory reasons, we do not feel we can a loaded physical bitcoin product. And besides, shipping it would be a nightmare, both domestically and internationally. This means that we have to ship this product empty and unfunded, where the mining pool will later find it with the full block reward. This is what necessitates the DIY component, to stick on the final Block Height and Block Reward amounts.

thanks,
Bobby

[bobbyclee]

Some of you may be interested in seeing the eventual "raised lettering" stick-ons for the DIY part mentioned in point 7 of the Ordering Procedure section above.

I have photos and videos to show you!

Here are some photos of what this will look like on your block, after you apply the lettering stick-on.
(By the way, that block in the photos/videos is an actual Titanium block, in actual size (8 x 8 cm, at 1 cm thickness).

We will give you 2 sets of the lettering stick-ons, all custom-made to show the actual Block Height and Block Reward amount for your newly mined Bitcoin Block.








And we also have 2 nice video clips:

Video clip #1 - Showing the lettering at various angles.

Video clip #2 - Showing how the lettering is solidly stuck on, and not able to be scratched off by accident.


After you see this, I hope you'll agree that this is indeed a good workable solution. It matches the color and looks great on the titanium block, and also it's quite solidly stuck on, as you can see in the second video above.

We've worked hard to make it high quality and durable.

How do you like it?

thanks,
Bobby

[bobbyclee]

Are the numbers individual stickers or are they glued onto the block? It looks like there is glue residue surrounding the numbers.

I assume you're referring to the DIY "raised lettering stick-ons" for the Block Height and Block Reward amount.

However, I don't quite understand your question...

Let me clarify it this way:

The raised letterings are custom made stick-ons, in the form of raised lettering in glossy metallic style.
In the DIY process, these letterings are stuck onto the Titanium block in one motion. The whole set of raised lettering is organized together, so you stick it on in one motion (and NOT done individually, letter by letter).

So yes, there is glue involved, as the glue is on the bottom of each letter.  However, the glue is not user-applied, but rather like on a sticker; it's already made for you and ready to stick.

Hope that helps?


In terms of the DIY application of the stick-on, one sort-of-similar analogy is the application of a screen protector for your mobile smartphone.  Have any of you put on a screen protector yourself?

The screen protector comes in a 3-layer sheet. The actual screen protector layer is in the middle, with 2 protective "application" layers on both sides. You peel off layer 1 to reveal the sticky side of layer 2, and then place the layer 2+3 onto your mobile phone screen, with careful alignment. Once done, you peel off layer 3, and then layer 2 (the actual screen protector) stays on top of your mobile phone screen.

Now, similar here:

The stick-on lettering comes in a 3-layer sheet. The actual stick-on lettering is in the middle, with 2 protective "application" layers on both sides. You peel off layer 1 to reveal the sticky side of the stick-on lettering, and then place the layer 2+3 onto your Bitcoin Block, with careful alignment. Once done, you peel off layer 3, and then layer 2 (the actual metallic style lettering) stays on top of your Bitcoin Block.

[bobbyclee]

So yes, there is glue involved, as the glue is on the bottom of each letter.  However, the glue is not user-applied, but rather like on a sticker; it's already made for you and ready to stick.

Hope that helps?

That is exactly what I meant. Looking at the images you posted it seems like someone smeared glue on the block and stuck the letters on, instead of looking like stickers:


Please don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to bash the Bitcoin Blocks at all, I'm glad to see new products being made (and released). I really love the concept but I'm not sure the execution fits the premium product you have envisioned and the premium that is being charged. As a long time collector I don't want to pay a 1 BTC premium on a product where I have to perform DIY steps (with a fair chance of messing up the allignment, making it look bad).

Hi TheNewAnon135246,

Thank you for sharing your concerns.

The product photos don’t do justice to the quality of the stickers or what they will actually look like.

The materials we used to make the stickers and our new blocks are of the highest quality and we are confident customers will like them just as much as they liked the BTCC Mint products our team used to make.

I will post closeups of the stickers soon, so everyone can judge the quality of the stickers for themselves.

It’s also important to note that the stickers are optional, and people can choose whether they want to apply them or not depending on the aesthetic they want. And, we can also offer an option to laser etch the information onto the blocks, but this method would require you to bring the loaded Bitcoin Block to our facilities in Las Vegas. (If there's interest in this, we can recommend some trusted couriers to help you transport the Blocks back and forth.)

Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me if you have any more feedback or concerns.

thanks,
Bobby

[bobbyclee]

Here's the user manual for the 2020 pre-halving Bitcoin Block.

Enjoy!

https://i.imgur.com/u4D7Wju.png

(somehow, the inline image version doesn't want to show here, so click through on the link above, to see the manual.)

[K-Paxian]

Hi Bobby.

The ballet block is going to be made only pre-halving with 12.5 BTC or also post halving with 6.25 BTC in it?

thx

[bobbyclee]

Hi Bobby.

The ballet block is going to be made only pre-halving with 12.5 BTC or also post halving with 6.25 BTC in it?

thx

We're currently taking orders for the pre-halving Blocks. The premium is slightly less than 8%. It's paid as a "mining service fee" of 1.0 BTC, paid in Bitcoin. For this product, we are only taking orders up until April 30th.  So just about 10 days left for people to place orders.  (and we may restrict orders during the last few days, as we can only handle so many at the end.)

And after the block halving, we plan to sell the 6.25+ BTC version. It will also be made-to-order, and we will start taking orders in June. The premium will be around 10% for that product.

thanks,
Bobby

[K-Paxian]

Ok, thank you for the info

[Liquidoptions]

1 btc for stickers? I find it insane,  laser engraving block height would cost less than 100 dollars and they are using stickers on a physical block worth at least 12.5 btc! If anyone buy these they have too much money

[bobbyclee]

1 btc for stickers? I find it insane,  laser engraving block height would cost less than 100 dollars and they are using stickers on a physical block worth at least 12.5 btc! If anyone buy these they have too much money

1 BTC is mining service fee, for the full block, freshly mined.

I don't know what "stickers" you're referring to.

[omicron1]

The sticker he is referring to is ... the sticker.

[Liquidoptions]

and i quote you from an earlier post

"Hi TheNewAnon135246,

Thank you for sharing your concerns.

The product photos don’t do justice to the quality of the stickers or what they will actually look like. "

You still dont know what "stickers"?
wow just wow

1 btc for stickers? I find it insane,  laser engraving block height would cost less than 100 dollars and they are using stickers on a physical block worth at least 12.5 btc! If anyone buy these they have too much money

1 BTC is mining service fee, for the full block, freshly mined.

I don't know what "stickers" you're referring to.

[bobbyclee]

1 btc for stickers? I find it insane,  laser engraving block height would cost less than 100 dollars and they are using stickers on a physical block worth at least 12.5 btc! If anyone buy these they have too much money

you're complaining about stickers?

most physical bitcoins today use stickers to cover up the private keys. So you don't complain about that?
*** [line deleted] ***

All of my BTCC Mint blocks from 2015 and 2015, both the 25+ BTC and the 12.5+ BTC, they ALL had stickers on them.
What's the issue with stickers on physical bitcoins?

Like I said, the shiny lettering "stickers" look GREAT in person.
*** [line deleted] ***
 
Slushpool just helped us mine the first 2 blocks (#627061 and #627295) the past two days. Very exciting.
(You can our custom message in the OP_RETURN field of the coinbase transaction... like in here.)

I know that many of you are all worried about the quality and look of the shiny lettering "stickers"...
As soon as I get the shiny lettering "stickers", I'll put them onto Block #001, and then show you some photos/videos.

Here's what the blocks look like in our Ballet Crypto mobile app:





thanks,
Bobby

[bobbyclee]

More photos of the 2 blocks, along with the packaging box.

(For the very few of you who own the BTCC Mint blocks from 2016, you'll notice that we've used the same vendors and suppliers for the box and packaging. You're getting the same premium experience!)

*** The block height and block value "Shiny Lettering" has not been applied yet.

Enjoy!
Bobby

[Edits]

....
It sounds more like sour grapes, and you probably can't even afford to buy this item. ...


Like I said, the shiny lettering "stickers" look GREAT in person.
I'll show more photos soon, but unfortunately, many of you will never get to see them in person. That's just the way it is. Not everyone can afford certain things...

I know that many of you are all worried about the quality and look of the shiny lettering "stickers"...
As soon as I get the shiny lettering "stickers", I'll put them onto Block #001, and then show you some photos/videos.

thanks,
Bobby

OUCH. Packaging looks great, I really like what youre making at ballet however I think youre getting hooked on the definition of "stickers" v "Shiny Lettering that uses an adhesive to stick to the block"

either way, telling prospective customers that have quality concerns about a $120,000+ item that "you probably cant even afford to buy this item" and "not everyone can afford certain things" is pretty shit customer service.

Pretty Woman?

[bobbyclee]

you're complaining about stickers?

most physical bitcoins today use stickers to cover up the private keys. So you don't complain about that?
*** [line deleted] ***

All of my BTCC Mint blocks from 2015 and 2015, both the 25+ BTC and the 12.5+ BTC, they ALL had stickers on them.
What's the issue with stickers on physical bitcoins?

Like I said, the shiny lettering "stickers" look GREAT in person.
*** [line deleted] ***

I want to apologize for an earlier comment above, where I was being insensitive and making unnecessary assumptions. I have edited the post and removed the offending lines.

Looking back, my comments above are not a reflection of how I want to project myself publicly.

Apologies again, and thank you for your understanding.

thanks,
Bobby

[Crypto_Collection]

you're complaining about stickers?

most physical bitcoins today use stickers to cover up the private keys. So you don't complain about that?

All of my BTCC Mint blocks from 2015 and 2015, both the 25+ BTC and the 12.5+ BTC, they ALL had stickers on them.
What's the issue with stickers on physical bitcoins?

Like I said, the shiny lettering "stickers" look GREAT in person.

Tamper-evident security holograms are much different than cheap stick-on numbers. These are not comparable when calling both "stickers"

What security features are present in this product that would make it nearly impossible to copy? How could someone purchasing this block not directly from you ensure the authenticity of the product?

This product is missing a very important "sticker" and IMO would be easy for someone to create a fake.  This is a serious issue when holding a large sum BTC.  I have no doubt the key generation is safe.

[anonymousminer]

you're complaining about stickers?

most physical bitcoins today use stickers to cover up the private keys. So you don't complain about that?

All of my BTCC Mint blocks from 2015 and 2015, both the 25+ BTC and the 12.5+ BTC, they ALL had stickers on them.
What's the issue with stickers on physical bitcoins?

Like I said, the shiny lettering "stickers" look GREAT in person.

Tamper-evident security holograms are much different than cheap stick-on numbers. These are not comparable when calling both "stickers"

What security features are present in this product that would make it nearly impossible to copy? How could someone purchasing this block not directly from you ensure the authenticity of the product?

This product is missing a very important "sticker" and IMO would be easy for someone to create a fake.  This is a serious issue when holding a large sum BTC.  I have no doubt the key generation is safe.

Please expand on why it "would be easy for someone to create a fake."

The private key is under a tamper resistant multi layer "sticker" - The BIP38 passphrase is under a scratch off - It's a large block of titanium with a fairly intricate die to stamp these.

[Crypto_Collection]

you're complaining about stickers?

most physical bitcoins today use stickers to cover up the private keys. So you don't complain about that?

All of my BTCC Mint blocks from 2015 and 2015, both the 25+ BTC and the 12.5+ BTC, they ALL had stickers on them.
What's the issue with stickers on physical bitcoins?

Like I said, the shiny lettering "stickers" look GREAT in person.

Tamper-evident security holograms are much different than cheap stick-on numbers. These are not comparable when calling both "stickers"

What security features are present in this product that would make it nearly impossible to copy? How could someone purchasing this block not directly from you ensure the authenticity of the product?

This product is missing a very important "sticker" and IMO would be easy for someone to create a fake.  This is a serious issue when holding a large sum BTC.  I have no doubt the key generation is safe.

Please expand on why it "would be easy for someone to create a fake."

The private key is under a tamper resistant multi layer "sticker" - The BIP38 passphrase is under a scratch off - It's a large block of titanium with a fairly intricate die to stamp these.

I guess easy would be the wrong word, but I meant easy for someone with access to the proper printers / machinery, time and resources.

The "sticker" and scratch off don't seem like they'd be hard for a person to replicate since the design is simple.  The person would need access to the proper printers / machinery. It's a 2D design. Clearly you could verify authenticity if you damage the scratch off or peel the non-holographic sticker.

I didn't know that the blocks were made with a die, which would make it much harder to recreate.  I originally thought they were milled.  Thank you for clarifying. Dies would make it more difficult to replicate

That being said, the exact design (front view) is posted at the top of this thread.  Couldn't that be used to copy design and scale of elements used in the design?

I'm no expert here but just wanted to voice a concern since this is intended to store a lot of BTC.

Edit - fixed formatting