Have we got any NFC wallets?

[jackg]

I've just thought now that contactless cards use a type of nfc to communicate with the card reader (it may be rfid I don't know) anyway are there any wallets that have attempted it with bitcoin? The idea being you'd place the phone near a flat plate and it'd communicant the transaction to your device and show you the preview window for you to confirm or deny the transaction being spent...

I don't know how well qr codes do with this sort of stuff or if it's too early to look into this sort of thing but I think it'd be more secure and easier to use (qr codes need to focus and if you have them on a screen defects with either your camera or the screen can add lines across the whole thing - often meaning the phone ignores the barcode).

[pooya87]

i haven't seen that much work done on this matter which may be because there aren't that many offline places to spend bitcoin and spending isn't that popular either. but it would be interesting thing to see. i think they all stick to using QR codes so far.

(qr codes need to focus and if you have them on a screen defects with either your camera or the screen can add lines across the whole thing - often meaning the phone ignores the barcode).

QR codes have built-in error correction which can be set or changed by the creator so that even if the result was partially damaged it could still be recovered. in other words even if you were missing 30% of your screen your QR code could potentially be read.
https://www.qrcode.com/en/about/error_correction.html

[TheUltraElite]

The closest I have seen to contact-less transactions is using the QR code to pay. This is used not only in bitcoin wallets but may fiat payment systems and processors as well.

AFAIR, some smartphones were moving away from NFC My previous Nokia phones used to have those but the current phone I have does not have NFC anymore. Not sure if some vulnerability was found in it.

Hoping to see more contact-less methods but lets not exaggerate this because of the pandemic, it is NOT the new normal. But new developments always welcome.

[ranochigo]

AFAIR, some smartphones were moving away from NFC My previous Nokia phones used to have those but the current phone I have does not have NFC anymore. Not sure if some vulnerability was found in it.

Might be the case with specific mid-range phones. The latest flagships all ships with NFC, given the high adoption of Google Pay, Apple pay and Samsung Pay. Even smart watches comes with NFC nowadays.

I'm not sure which wallet but I've had a Bitcoin wallet on Android that allows for the use of NFC to communicate. It's really simple; just put the Bitcoin URI in the chip and the smartphone receives it and treats it like the QR code. It's relatively easy to set up and if you can integrate it with a POS, you'll be able to input the amount to pay as well.

[TheUltraElite]

Might be the case with specific mid-range phones. The latest flagships all ships with NFC, given the high adoption of Google Pay, Apple pay and Samsung Pay.

It is a mid-range phone. Cant afford a flagship at all considering the amount that goes to waste on phones every 2years. Yeah I am old school, I prefer to drag phones for more than 3years if possible.

Even smart watches comes with NFC nowadays.

Not a fan of smartwatches at all. I still consider them as over consumption. Prefer the older watches, always!

[joniboini]

I found something like Sugi (https://sugi.io/), but never tried it by myself. Some others providers (iirc) also use NFC as an extra features but there's not enough review.

[Lucius]

~snip~

If you want an NFC wallet and it is not a problem for you to install a hand-implant, then read the following article - the thing is already 6 years old and I believe that the whole procedure is neither expensive nor too technically demanding.

Hand-implanted NFC chips open this man's bitcoin wallet

This may seem like the distant future, but in some countries like Sweden where about 98% of all transactions are done digitally, human microchipping has already become a reality - of course all on a voluntary basis.

[ranochigo]

If you want an NFC wallet and it is not a problem for you to install a hand-implant, then read the following article - the thing is already 6 years old and I believe that the whole procedure is neither expensive nor too technically demanding.

Hand-implanted NFC chips open this man's bitcoin wallet

Hand implants seems a bit extreme and I don't think OP was specifically looking at that dieection. Anyhow, I feel that its just a novel idea and I don't think it'll be easy to implement security features to safeguard the funds in the NFC wallet. Unless I missed out something, I don't think authorising payments from the implant would be a clear cut process.

[jackg]

If you want an NFC wallet and it is not a problem for you to install a hand-implant, then read the following article - the thing is already 6 years old and I believe that the whole procedure is neither expensive nor too technically demanding.

Hand-implanted NFC chips open this man's bitcoin wallet

Hand implants seems a bit extreme and I don't think OP was specifically looking at that dieection. Anyhow, I feel that its just a novel idea and I don't think it'll be easy to implement security features to safeguard the funds in the NFC wallet. Unless I missed out something, I don't think authorising payments from the implant would be a clear cut process.

No it wasn't but it is an interesting idea. Originally hand implants for security systems came here a long time ago generally:
Temp workers have key cards that can be disabled (temp is anything under 3 years imo)
Indefinite workers could opt between the two in companies that have them
and high up workers you don't want to lock out have keys...

There are problems with who you give keys to or chips as both can be copied - I heard a story of my old school accidentally printing keys to secure facilities such as server rooms and transformers to visitor cards...

And yeah unless you have a relay back to the phone I'm not sure it'd be very secure - or entered some sort of htlc where 0you verify your identity at the PoS and then pay them later.

Might be the case with specific mid-range phones. The latest flagships all ships with NFC, given the high adoption of Google Pay, Apple pay and Samsung Pay.

It is a mid-range phone. Cant afford a flagship at all considering the amount that goes to waste on phones every 2years. Yeah I am old school, I prefer to drag phones for more than 3years if possible.

Even smart watches comes with NFC nowadays.

Not a fan of smartwatches at all. I still consider them as over consumption. Prefer the older watches, always!

My watches only last 3-5 years, I'd want a smart watch to last longer...


I can't find the nfc wallet but I did see the bitcoinwallet for android by Andreas schildbach had pay to Bluetooth functions (from what I could tell). Bluetooth may be unencrypted though - not sure...

[LeGaulois]

What about?

https://edge.app/blog/bitcoin-nfc-tap-to-pay/
https://www.mobilepaymentstoday.com/articles/circle-adds-nfc-functionality-to-android-mobile-bitcoin-wallet-app/
http://bitnfc.org/

Knowing you can get the (NFC) cards details with a simple Raspberry PI in a matter of minutes, without touching the card or the person and without anyone seeing you, imagine with a BTC wallet with NFC...

With a card you can block it, and maybe receive a refund from the bank, with a BTC wallet that won't happen.

...

Years ago they wanted to offer me a kit to install it in exchange of a review. I just needed to visit a doctor to install it. Of course I refused.

[DaveF]

With the standard I have not used either of them, don't know if they are any good, use at your own risk, don't blame me if you loose all your BTC etc.


There is:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.schildbach.wallet&hl=en_US

FEATURES

• No registration, web service or cloud needed! This wallet is de-centralized and peer to peer.
• Less is more: No support for alt-coins or tokens. No unnecessary features.
• Display of Bitcoin amount in BTC, mBTC and µBTC.
• Conversion to and from national currencies.
• Sending and receiving of Bitcoin via NFC, QR-codes or Bitcoin URLs.
• When you're offline, you can still pay via Bluetooth.
• System notification for received coins.
• Sweeping of paper wallets (e.g. those used for cold storage).
• App widget for Bitcoin balance.
• Safety: Supports SegWit and the new bech32 format.
• Privacy: Supports Tor via the separate Orbot app.

And there is shakepay (don't know a thing about them):
Shakepay: https://blog.shakepay.co/2016/bonjour-world/
https://shakepay.com

IIRC BitPay was working on it, but with BIP 70 being removed they took their ball and went home. not 100% sure on that but I remember something about it.

-Dave

[HCP]

I'm fairly sure I've seen NFC capable "hardware wallets"... as in, you hold the card next to your phone to be able to sign transactions etc.

Coolwallet.io is possibly the one I'm thinking of... but I also found nfcwalletcard, but I don't think that is what I was thinking of.

The technology is certainly available, so I'm sure someone is "working on it"