[Interest Check] Wearable keys

[SaltySpitoon]

Ahoy! I'm in the process of making something I wanted to do for a few years, namely, discrete wearable key pairs. A long time ago, Charlie Shrem had a ring with one of his private keys engraved into it, and I thought that was pretty neat, sort of like an emergency access to some coins just anywhere on the go. I got caught up with the technical details, and dropped it to move onto something else. Anyway, the other day I learned about a new feature in the 3D modeling software that I use that would allow me to get past one of the issues I had with the idea. The other problem I got hung up on was obscuring the keys. I experimented with using a lesser purity alloy to fill in the engraved letters. When exposed to high heat, the metal would melt out, exposing the keys. While its possible, its not really feasible for a number of reasons. Anyway, after trying out this new modeling feature, I decided that fancy security features on the physical side may not actually be needed. A private key could be encrypted before being engraved, it could be a riddle that leads you to the GPS coordinates of where you buried your paper wallets, unintelligible gibberish, or anything else that could be imagined could be put on it. Shrem's ring had his keypair minus one character engraved on the inside for example. I'm confident that a suitable security measure exists to mitigate risk.

Would anyone be interested in something like this? As pictured,  I can currently make them in silver, any karat or color of gold, and pretty soon Platinum. The images below were just a preliminary test to make sure the lettering was sufficient, and that I could put something other than text on it. Its just a standard boring ring, I'll make some more interesting design wise, but for mine I'm personally undecided whether boring and unassuming would be more secure than flashy.

[buckrogers]

Love it, any idea on pricing for .999 silver or any other PM's?

thanks!

[MoparMiningLLC]

i would be interested in one at least maybe more - would like to see them in metal first though.

[Mbitr]

I was hoping something like this would come up 
I’m definitely interested , in fact I’d bring looking for a pair - one for myself and one for the good lady wife.
Some sort of key split between the two rings or something ? Any ideas ?

[The Sceptical Chymist]

I think this is a really neat idea, and if the design ended up being attractive enough I might be enticed to buy one, if only for the novelty of owning such a thing.  I'm a fan of silver rings in particular.  

Just a suggestion:  some ornamentation (not sure if that's the word I'm really looking for) in addition to the key might make for a nicer ring, like a filigree pattern or some other kind of design.  Anyway, I'll keep an eye on this thread to see if you make any progress--and good luck, because I'll bet there would be a demand for these.

Love it, any idea on pricing for .999 silver or any other PM's?

Not for nothing, but if you're going to be wearing it you'd be better off having it made out of .925 just to give it some extra hardness.

[SaltySpitoon]

Love it, any idea on pricing for .999 silver or any other PM's?

thanks!

I don't know exactly yet. I'm going to make my own, record the costs, and go from there. The process I'm using is about the same as what a regular jeweler does, so expect going to a jewelry store and buying a wedding band prices, not Bitcoin collectible prices  

Making them in .999 silver isn't a problem, but if you plan on wearing it daily, I'd recommend not using .999 silver or 24kt gold as they're soft metals, but I can do it. I've made some vastly superior alloys with much better visuals and strength.

I will make a couple copies out of 24 kt gold and .999 silver to test how much battering they can take without losing a letter of the engraving. There are hardening techniques that help, but I'm not certain to what degree. I'll also throw them in a wood fire for a while to make sure there isn't any deformation before I go ahead and market these as fire resistant.

i would be interested in one at least maybe more - would like to see them in metal first though.

Righto, so the one I have pictured as you can see is resin and not cleaned up properly. It was sort of a letter size/depth test before I make one for myself. Next step is to make a test one for myself out of a few different metals. Like I mentioned to Buck, I'd like to have a better idea of what level of wear and tear these can handle in different metals before I go saying these are vastly superior and more convenient than well done paper wallets. I'll post the test results as well as pictures along the way.

I was hoping something like this would come up  
I’m definitely interested , in fact I’d bring looking for a pair - one for myself and one for the good lady wife.
Some sort of key split between the two rings or something ? Any ideas ?

That wouldn't be a problem. The number of characters you can place on the inside/outside sort of depends on the size of the ring, but I can also change around the text font and size to make it fit. You can put whatever you'd like on the inside or outside.

My first thought was to just put a private key on the inside of a wedding band style ring. I'm absolutely not advocating anything illicit, but I've had trouble in the past bringing Bitcoin project related hardware even on domestic flights. Hardware wallets look like obscure electronics, they aren't looking at you like a financial criminal, they're wondering what that tiny little encrypted circuit board is really hiding. A wedding band wouldn't garner the same suspicion. On that note is where I mention the design. The test model I ran is just a sort of boring band. I could deck it out with some neat designs and features, Crypto related or not, but that also may be writing "TARGET HERE!" on it. There will be a ton of options available to people. The size, material, whether you have the public key on it at all, split keys, multisig keys, I'd recommend encrypted so you aren't actually handing me your keypairs. If you really want, I could just put cryptic gibberish on it to trick people into thinking you have a Bitcoin private key  

Love it, any idea on pricing for .999 silver or any other PM's?

Not for nothing, but if you're going to be wearing it you'd be better off having it made out of .925 just to give it some extra hardness.

Theres a .975 silver alloy that uses palladium/platinum and germanium that I highly recommend. Germanium mixed into silver creates a clear oxide layer on the surface, sort of like how aluminum oxidizes. That serves as a barrier that helps to prevent the silver from tarnishing the way you're used to when silver. Its about 6x stronger than sterling as well.

[Saint-loup]

That's a great idea.
Maybe you can even engrave the first letters or the rank numbers of your seed words.
Then if you want more security you can use a seed with a passphrase.

[Mbitr]

I was hoping something like this would come up  
I’m definitely interested , in fact I’d bring looking for a pair - one for myself and one for the good lady wife.
Some sort of key split between the two rings or something ? Any ideas ?

That wouldn't be a problem. The number of characters you can place on the inside/outside sort of depends on the size of the ring, but I can also change around the text font and size to make it fit. You can put whatever you'd like on the inside or outside.

My first thought was to just put a private key on the inside of a wedding band style ring. I'm absolutely not advocating anything illicit, but I've had trouble in the past bringing Bitcoin project related hardware even on domestic flights. Hardware wallets look like obscure electronics, they aren't looking at you like a financial criminal, they're wondering what that tiny little encrypted circuit board is really hiding. A wedding band wouldn't garner the same suspicion. On that note is where I mention the design. The test model I ran is just a sort of boring band. I could deck it out with some neat designs and features, Crypto related or not, but that also may be writing "TARGET HERE!" on it. There will be a ton of options available to people. The size, material, whether you have the public key on it at all, split keys, multisig keys, I'd recommend encrypted so you aren't actually handing me your keypairs. If you really want, I could just put cryptic gibberish on it to trick people into thinking you have a Bitcoin private key  

Thanks for your response. Personally I’d go for a plain wedding  band style .
As you say, there’s always a security issue with keys , but I would like something bitcoin related ? Possibly encryption may be the answer ? I’ll keep thinking , but still very much interested  

Edit - just seen Saint-loup’s response- good ideas , thanks

[BitcoinNewsMagazine]

Another vote for stealth. Option to look like a wedding ring in durable silver alloy or 14/18 K gold. Private key to be engraved inside.

[SaltySpitoon]

So here is the test model I'm about to print and then I'll cast it in a few different metals for testing. Its a size 8 (18.14mm ID) 4mm tall, and 1.75mm thick (the one I printed previously was 5mm tall and 2mm thick and it just felt too big for my liking)





Once I'm certain of what will and what wont work, I don't need to say that anyone needs stealth or anyone needs a certain design. As long as what you want fits and doesn't have any weird geometry issues that'll mess with the fluid dynamics of pouring hot metal, we should be golden. I should be able to put most hand drawn sketches on there, or change the shape/design entirely. Once I've finished the tests, I'll start modeling something a bit more interesting design wise.

Heres some other junk I've made recently (20kt gold) unfortunately it looks like I don't have final result pictures for either of them, that was the pre-polish stage for both so there are still some little scratches visible at magnification  

[shadallion]

Yes

[SaltySpitoon]

I got the mold made for the test, I should be able to have it done tomorrow night.

[Coin_trader]

This thread really caught my attention. My wedding is within this year and I'm thinking a cool wedding ring that Bitcoin is related because both me and my future wife are Bitcoin enthusiast. Can you make a pair of gold ring with a split private key engraved on each ring?  PM me if this is possible and also the price of it.

[SaltySpitoon]

This thread really caught my attention. My wedding is within this year and I'm thinking a cool wedding ring that Bitcoin is related because both me and my future wife are Bitcoin enthusiast. Can you make a pair of gold ring with a split private key engraved on each ring?  PM me if this is possible and also the price of it.

Yep, shouldn't be a problem. I'll be able to work with you on specifics in a day or two once I've finished my material and concept testing, but I'll shoot you a pm to get the ball rolling and see what you have in mind. I believe I'll be able to do it without any problem, but I'm doing a test run tomorrow just to be safe. I like to run into problems while no one is counting on me not to run into problems. I've made rings before, but manually by pouring metal ingots, rolling it through a mill and making barstock that is cut, fused, and hammered into a ring. I'm trying a different method this time, but as I said I don't expect to run into any problems.

[hugeblack]

It's fun, but it's hard to read a public or private key so it's best to avoid the idea of ​​engraving a private key and try to include a smaller version of QR code.
If you want to use silver, it is better to search for adding more anti-oxidant properties because it will make reading the public key difficult.
If you can find a design that combines the three models, it will be amazing.
A QR private key, split into two parts, which will enable the user to spend money if s/he collects the two parts together.

Sources: http://thebtcring.com/
https://www.pinterest.ch/pin/178173728993572338/
https://www.pinterest.ch/pin/751256781565032496/

[SaltySpitoon]

It's fun, but it's hard to read a public or private key so it's best to avoid the idea of ​​engraving a private key and try to include a smaller version of QR code.
If you want to use silver, it is better to search for adding more anti-oxidant properties because it will make reading the public key difficult.
If you can find a design that combines the three models, it will be amazing.
A QR private key, split into two parts, which will enable the user to spend money if s/he collects the two parts together.

I considered using a QR code, but they'd be much too small to machine even with a laser cutter. Some of the features would be under 1 micro meter. As far as tarnishing goes, inevitably they will tarnish like any other piece of metal. When that happens, cleaning your piece will restore it back to new condition. Tarnish may even make the keys more legible whether you want that or not. There is a product called liver of sulfur that people brush on silver to make it tarnish. The common application for that is people that want to put a rainbow patina on silver coins and charge more for them, or for lettering. If you apply the oxidizer to the text and surface, but only clean the surface, you're left with high contrast black lettering. Thats likely what was used for the QR code sample you pictured. Thanks for your suggestion, I'm really liking the split pair idea.


*Edit* Woohoo, only a minor delay this time. You can't hope for none, so I always just hope for quick and fixable. I went through the process of preparing the wax copy for casting, and I noticed my vacuum chamber was acting a little odd, but continued.






The wax copy came out alright but not fantastic. My vacuum pump isn't pulling a deep enough vacuum and left some air bubbles in the silicone. No big deal, just need to order a replacement part.

[SaltySpitoon]

Expecting  the supplies I need to arrive tomorrow. They take ~16 hours to make, so a presentable prototype could be completed by wednesday night.

[buckrogers]

Expecting  the supplies I need to arrive tomorrow. They take ~16 hours to make, so a presentable prototype could be completed by wednesday night.

Awesome stuff @SaltySpitoon I cant wait to see some finished products

[Kryptowerk]

Very interesting stuff, will keep an eye on your projects.

The first draft of the ring looks great - simple yet elegant.

[Coin_trader]

Expecting  the supplies I need to arrive tomorrow. They take ~16 hours to make, so a presentable prototype could be completed by wednesday night.

I'm very excited to see the prototype. Looking forward to a good result.

Goodluck Salty!