(pics) Physical Bitcoin Bills - For Real World Transactions - Printcoins.com

[PrintCoins]

Update - Feb, 2012
Due to the increase in valuation, printcoins is now offering 0.1 BTC bills which are about equal to a $2 bill. Bills that are greater that 10 BTC have been taken offline. Also Ron Paul bills have been discontinued.

Update - Aug, 2012
You can now print your own: http://print.printcoins.com/

Update - Feb 28, 2012

These will now only be sold in bulk orders of 100. This will likely change back in May, but for now, the small orders are just not worth the time. I would like to sell plastic credit card format printcoins, so let me know if you would like to do bulk orders of these.

Updates - Jan 4, 2012


* Due to the rise in the value of bitcoins, bills are now cheaper (prices automatically adjust to mtgox)
* Denominated bills are back up for sale
* Paper stock is now significantly heavier - 32 lbs,  100% cotton
* Hologram size is now 12% larger
* Denominated bills are sold pre-funded. You don't fund them yourself.

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Original Post

Physical Bitcoin Bills at http://printcoins.com





About

PrintCoins are a way to bring your bitcoins into the physical world.

PrintCoins come in a variety of denominations, each with their own color scheme based on standard poker chip values. And they are printed on 24lb paper that is made from 100% cotton.

There is also an "open" denomination bill that can be used like a blank check. You simply fund the bill with a specific amount, and then write the amount on the bill.

All bills come unfunded so your bitcoins remain in your digital wallet until you need them to fund the bills. To fund bills, you can use the public addresses sent to you via email when your order is shipped, or you can just scan the bill with a smartphone bitcoin wallet app (Android Wallet or InstaWallet).

Perfect for . . .

• Off grid transactions
• When you don't want to wait for a bitcoin transaction
• When you want to buy something from someone who is new to bitcoin.

Buy at:
http://printcoins.com

[Rejinx]

I am likely missing something, but how would a merchant know if you funded the bill?

[ataranlen]

They simply scan the QR code

[PrintCoins]

I am likely missing something, but how would a merchant know if you funded the bill?

The checkmark signifies that you funded it. This is verified with the QR code in the upper right hand corner (check out the first image) and it is a url to the balance at blockexplorer.com.

[BurtW]

We trust Mike ( https://www.casascius.com ) because he has been around for a long time, has earned our trust and has gone to great lengths to describe his private key handling process.  Also he has published his real name and address etc.

Who are you that we should trust you with our private keys?  What is your private key handling process?  This entire system rests on your ability to convince us that we can trust you.

I REALLY like the idea and would like to buy some but I need to know a lot more about you personally before I do.

Are you willing to publish all your real life information?

[Matthew N. Wright]

We trust Mike ( https://www.casascius.com ) because he has been around for a long time, has earned our trust and has gone to great lengths to describe his private key handling process.  Also he has published his real name and address etc.

Who are you that we should trust you with our private keys?  What is your private key handling process?  This entire system rests on your ability to convince us that we can trust you.

I REALLY like the idea and would like to buy some but I need to know a lot more about you personally before I do.

Are you willing to publish all your real life information?

You can't have a double standard like that. There is absolutely no reason to trust Mike anymore or less than these people. They can all screw you over.

The only safe way to do this is a way that even the bill/card/coin maker has no idea what the wallet information is.

[cbeast]

They look nice, but are not at all secure. The generic hologram might as well just be a scratch off sticker.

[BurtW]

Sure I can.  I (me Burt) trust Mike.  I can do that if I want to.  Not 100% sure why I do but some factors are that he uses SSL, he funds the coins, he has been around a long time, I have PMed him and gotten to know him, he makes more money selling coins than he would ripping people off at the current level of coin production.

I do not know this guy... yet.

If these things were in general circulation and there were a lot of them he could make a lot of money in one giant scam - that is obvious.

That also applies to the coins, true.

[naypalm]

Do you have a list of Addresses that are available to the public?

Also, I would consider going through a company to create a unique tamper evident hologram. I sincerely hope that you did not sticker 1000 of your bills already.  

[PrintCoins]

We trust Mike ( https://www.casascius.com ) because he has been around for a long time, has earned our trust and has gone to great lengths to describe his private key handling process.  Also he has published his real name and address etc.

Who are you that we should trust you with our private keys?  What is your private key handling process?  This entire system rests on your ability to convince us that we can trust you.

I REALLY like the idea and would like to buy some but I need to know a lot more about you personally before I do.

Are you willing to publish all your real life information?

It is cool, and I respect that.

My real name is Rob Kohr, and my personal website is robkohr.com, and from there you can probably find a lot of info about me (probably more than Mike). I use RobKohr as my username everywhere (I am not much on being anonymous).

The private (and the public keys) never actually touch a hard drive. I generate them during the printing process for the bills, and they exist in an in-memory pdf file format going to my printer (the pdf file is not saved either). I use a Mac, which while not bulletproof, viruses are rather rare for. I also am a programmer at Intel, and know a little bit about security. My machine is behind a firewall.

I will be publishing the public keys (unless requested by the buyer) when they are shipped. The pre-shipping process is to scan the public keys with my phone and drop them in an email to the recipient of the bills.

[PrintCoins]

They look nice, but are not at all secure. The generic hologram might as well just be a scratch off sticker.

They are too generic though, you are correct. I have a design already, and if I sell out of my first batch I will be doing a custom hologram.

[PrintCoins]

Do you have a list of Addresses that are available to the public?

Also, I would consider going through a company to create a unique tamper evident hologram. I sincerely hope that you did not sticker 1000 of your bills already.  

No, 20 of 50 (I have a 100 pack, double sided holograms). If I sell out, I will be doing a custom one for version B (and then these will be collector items

[PrintCoins]

Do you have a list of Addresses that are available to the public?

Also, I would consider going through a company to create a unique tamper evident hologram. I sincerely hope that you did not sticker 1000 of your bills already.  

They will be public as they are shipped (they are scanned on the way out the door).

[Littleshop]

Can you show us what it looks like after the sticker is taken off?

[PrintCoins]

Can you show us what it looks like after the sticker is taken off?

Yep:


The center of the sticker has a paper square under it to protect the QR code, so it doesn't come apart in the middle. The edges fall apart pretty easily when you try to remove it. It also totally loses its stickiness.

[Littleshop]

Thanks!

[casascius]

I would say, great proof of concept.  Here would be my advice.

First of all, custom holograms are a must.  It just doesn't make sense to use a generic hologram that's on eBay.  PM me and I'll tell you who did mine.

Be aware, a new order of holograms will set you back about $2k - $2.5k and you'll need about 6 weeks lead time.  So if you're gonna do it, start now.  On the flip side, these guys can produce holograms in practically any size.  For reference, mine are a 1" circle.  They can cut them however you want though, they come in sheets.  Since these are going to a piece of paper and size isn't a factor, if I were doing a project like this, I would totally be doing a huge eye-catching square sticker (at LEAST 2"x2"), which would be plenty of room to make a gorgeous holographic masterpiece (and these guys will help you).  You do this right, and this alone will sell bills.  Put a big fat-ass B logo hologram on there, and I'll want a fistful of them.

Next, it shouldn't be too hard to generate your keys on an offline computer.  You say you're firewalled...what do you need an internet connection for?  And you say these never touch the hard drive -- you're sure, not even via the page file, or via the print queue?  Sterility is easily achieved so no excuse to not do it.  If you're going to do this for real, you really need to format a fresh hard drive, generate your junk with no internet connection whatsoever, print your shiz, and then zero the drive.

The Courier and Arial (or whatever other built-in) fonts have got to go.  Consider the Ubuntu font.  Google for it.  I would also like to suggest scrapping the "bitcoin not legal tender" bit.

The load-it-yourself non-denominated bill should be more like a "bitcoin cheque" and be formatted to look like a cheque, not cash, in my opinion.  The user should be led to write out the amount in script as well as numerals: "------TEN------ bitcoins.... 10.00 BTC".  (Notably, your bills already look like cheques, they just lack the formatting of one.)

Finally... I would really rethink having "load-it-yourself" bills that are loaded by the customer.  YOU SHOULD LOAD THESE.  The whole point of having a bill is for the recipient to NOT have to scan it.  Fortunately you have thrown a generic hologram on there so you haven't really done any harm.  But if and when you start throwing holograms on there with your name, you want to do your best to make sure that all bills in the wild are actually loaded.  I would also have the hologram guys laser-etch the denomination into the edge of the actual holograms (like you may notice on my 2nd series).

[BurtW]

Ordered one of each for fun.  I ignored your minimum 10 BTC order limit and sent you 3.04 BTC.  If you are really going to stick to your minimum 10 BTC limit then send my BTC back to me at http://firstbits.com/1burtw and cancel the order.

Please listen to Mike, he really knows what he is talking about.

[Matthew N. Wright]

I would say, great proof of concept.  Here would be my advice.

First of all, custom holograms are a must.  It just doesn't make sense to use a generic hologram that's on eBay.  PM me and I'll tell you who did mine.

Be aware, a new order of holograms will set you back about $2k - $2.5k and you'll need about 6 weeks lead time.  So if you're gonna do it, start now.  On the flip side, these guys can produce holograms in practically any size.  For reference, mine are a 1" circle.  They can cut them however you want though, they come in sheets.  Since these are going to a piece of paper and size isn't a factor, if I were doing a project like this, I would totally be doing a huge eye-catching square sticker (at LEAST 2"x2"), which would be plenty of room to make a gorgeous holographic masterpiece (and these guys will help you).  You do this right, and this alone will sell bills.  Put a big fat-ass B logo hologram on there, and I'll want a fistful of them.

Next, it shouldn't be too hard to generate your keys on an offline computer.  You say you're firewalled...what do you need an internet connection for?  And you say these never touch the hard drive -- you're sure, not even via the page file, or via the print queue?  Sterility is easily achieved so no excuse to not do it.  If you're going to do this for real, you really need to format a fresh hard drive, generate your junk with no internet connection whatsoever, print your shiz, and then zero the drive.

The Courier and Arial (or whatever other built-in) fonts have got to go.  Consider the Ubuntu font.  Google for it.  I would also like to suggest scrapping the "bitcoin not legal tender" bit.

The load-it-yourself non-denominated bill should be more like a "bitcoin cheque" and be formatted to look like a cheque, not cash, in my opinion.  The user should be led to write out the amount in script as well as numerals: "------TEN------ bitcoins.... 10.00 BTC".  (Notably, your bills already look like cheques, they just lack the formatting of one.)

Finally... I would really rethink having "load-it-yourself" bills that are loaded by the customer.  YOU SHOULD LOAD THESE.  The whole point of having a bill is for the recipient to NOT have to scan it.  Fortunately you have thrown a generic hologram on there so you haven't really done any harm.  But if and when you start throwing holograms on there with your name, you want to do your best to make sure that all bills in the wild are actually loaded.  I would also have the hologram guys laser-etch the denomination into the edge of the actual holograms (like you may notice on my 2nd series).

You forgot to add:

Use security paper, not home printer paper.

[casascius]

<snipped the oversize quote>

You forgot to add:

Use security paper, not home printer paper.

He seems to already be using a pretty decent quality of paper.  "Security paper" could mean anything - a unique label is what will really make the biggest difference.