Bitcoin cards

[OmegaStarScream]

I want to gift some friends and relatives some BTC, but I want to do it in a physical "be your own bank" way...

What are some good/affordable ways to do this (excluding paper wallets)? I was hoping I could find something like this for BTC, any thoughts? The only service I managed to find was CGift.io but it's custodial.

[1715255171]

1715255171

[TryNinja]

Isn't that kind of a paper wallet but with a better looking design?

How about a Ballet? It's not that cheap, though. And it's more of a long term collectible/paper wallet than a one-use Bitcoin 'gift card'.

[yogg]

I want to gift some friends and relatives some BTC, but I want to do it in a physical "be your own bank" way...

What are some good/affordable ways to do this (excluding paper wallets)? I was hoping I could find something like this for BTC, any thoughts? The only service I managed to find was CGift.io but it's custodial.

Hey there !

What you seem to be looking for is exactly the kind of product I make.

If you like the card format, you can checkout Coldkey (https://www.coldkey.eu/)
We still have some BTC Buyer Funded Coldkeys in stock, ready to ship.
These have nice UV features that match the artwork on the card.

There is a promotional offer on these, if you purchase 4 there is 1 added for free.

Feel free to reach out to us on the website if you have any additional queries.

[OROBTC]

I want to gift some friends and relatives some BTC, but I want to do it in a physical "be your own bank" way...

What are some good/affordable ways to do this (excluding paper wallets)? I was hoping I could find something like this for BTC, any thoughts? The only service I managed to find was CGift.io but it's custodial.

I like the OpenDimes!  They are cheap, less than $20 (?) each.  I recently told my son-in-law about them, and he is about to order a three-pack.

https://opendime.com/

It's not a card, but works pretty similarly.  And it looks kind-of cool (depending on taste I suppose).

[coinableS]

Opendimes or use a bip39 generator offline and make something yourself that stores the mnemonic phrase and give that to them.

[DireWolfM14]

I want to gift some friends and relatives some BTC, but I want to do it in a physical "be your own bank" way...

If you're going to stress the "be your own bank" philosophy it may not set the best example to start out with an address and private key that was created by someone else.  I like the do-it-yourself coins for giving bitcoin as a physical gift.

[Myleschetty]

I think the idea of saving Bitcoin off line is good exceptionally if the coin are to be hold for a long term but is it good to totally trust all the listed Bitcoin card site and it the bip39 offline generator also secure cause I once read that some generator will later generate the same private keys user A use to user B?

[yogg]

I want to gift some friends and relatives some BTC, but I want to do it in a physical "be your own bank" way...

If you're going to stress the "be your own bank" philosophy it may not set the best example to start out with an address and private key that was created by someone else.  I like the do-it-yourself coins for giving bitcoin as a physical gift.

I totally agree with that and I understand the underlying concerns.
If you have the IT knowledge and time to do so yourself, then you should go that route.
However, having it done yourself doesn't necessarily mean they are safer than private keys created by someone else.

Yes, it would have never been (in clear) anywhere else than in your machine, but .. has it been done safely ?

In the case of a do-it-yourself paper wallet, I can't stress enough that the keys are as secure as the weakest part in the generation / printing chain.
That is all that matters really, and that is why I offer my products.


EDIT : Obviously I don't keep any private key. That would result in a honeypot getting bigger and bigger and such collection of data is only looking to be leaked
I fathomed some "Masternode" cards associated to running masternodes, but that would require me to keep the private key to operate the MN. So that's a no.

[bob123]

However, having it done yourself doesn't necessarily mean they are safer than private keys created by someone else.

Not necessarily, no.
But you would rule out any trust required to a 3rd party. You would completely rely on yourself.

When trusting someone else, you literally don't have any clue how safe and secure this might have been generated.
Doing it yourself results in at least knowing the weaknesses it has which makes it way easier to estimate the possible risk of loss.

Storing coins yourself also doesn't necessarily mean that it is safer than storing money on a bank. And still.. we are all here.

[DireWolfM14]

I totally agree with that and I understand the underlying concerns.

I certainly didn't mean any offence to you, I hope you don't take it that way.  Nor am I trying to cast suspicion towards any other legitimate vendor of pre-keyed cards or coins.

However, having it done yourself doesn't necessarily mean they are safer than private keys created by someone else.

I also agree with this, the key is only as secure as the machine on which it was generated.  However, even if I trust that a pre-keyed card is safe and secure, then fund it with my mother's coins for safe keeping, now she has to trust not only that you are trustworthy, but I am capable of making that judgement for her.  The chain of trust has now gotten deeper.

I may have no issues trusting my funds to a pre-keyed card from a trusted vendor but I can't, in good conscience force my judgement onto others.  When dealing with other people's money I feel much more comfortable with them making the security decisions themselves.  If they are incapable, or have yet to learn, I will put the onus on myself to generate a key that is as secure as possible.  Since I would be dealing with OPM, I no longer have to concern myself with convincing others to trust the vendor whom I trust, only that they trust me and hold only me accountable.

[yogg]

I totally agree with that and I understand the underlying concerns.

I certainly didn't mean any offence to you, I hope you don't take it that way.  Nor am I trying to cast suspicion towards any other legitimate vendor of pre-keyed cards or coins.

Oh no, I did not take it personally so no offense at all, and I believe the legitimacy will appear with time (e.g. Casascius coins)

However, having it done yourself doesn't necessarily mean they are safer than private keys created by someone else.

I also agree with this, the key is only as secure as the machine on which it was generated.  However, even if I trust that a pre-keyed card is safe and secure, then fund it with my mother's coins for safe keeping, now she has to trust not only that you are trustworthy, but I am capable of making that judgement for her.  The chain of trust has now gotten deeper.

[...]

If they are incapable, or have yet to learn, I will put the onus on myself to generate a key that is as secure as possible.
Since I would be dealing with OPM, I no longer have to concern myself with convincing others to trust the vendor whom I trust, only that they trust me and hold only me accountable.

Yes, your statements about the chain of trust are accurate.
I was underlining the misconception that your keys are "safer" if you are the one who generated them just for the sake of it being oneself who generated them.

You very likely have the skills, the knowledge and you understand the implications of what you're doing when you generate a key, and fund it.
I can say that compared to the global (uneducated) population, you are part of a tiny winy (educated) minority.


A relative bought 5k€ worth of BTC in early 2017.
He went to La Maison du Bitcoin (Coinhouse) in Paris as they have a counter where you can change fiats to crypto.

He brought in 5k€ in cash, ID/KYC himself, etc etc...
My friend went away with a bit less than 2.5BTC ... on his Android phone !!
Just on an app called mycelium they get him to install during the transaction.

So they get his 5k€, (their commission was 10% at that time) and if this BTC would have gone missing, then they would have blamed my friend for not having a ""secure" setup".
("Who puts 5k without knowing", "what ? your phone system is not secured for that purpose and yet you complain", "yada yada...")

No education about the keys, nothing. Go figure out what would have happened in a legal dispute about this practice.
I know he is very careless about what link he opens on his computer and I'd rather not tell you about his phone...

When he announced that to me, I explained the risks he is under, and I escrowed his BTC while he was waiting for a HW wallet.


I think that we need something to fill this gap.
Sure, any educated BTCitcoiner, cypherpunk, IT specialist will be averse to solutions coming with a pre-generated private key and that is completely understandable.
Still, the gap remains.

[The Sceptical Chymist]

OP, I wanted to give the gift of BTC this Christmas to someone who knows nothing about bitcoin, and I bought a Ballet wallet, loaded a little bit of bitcoin onto it and gave it to him as sort of a stocking stuffer.  I'd created a thread about the Ballet, wondering if anyone had actually used them--I know about the security issues, but I figured it was a small amount and I did advise the recipient to transfer the bitcoin to a more secure wallet.

I could have just made a paper wallet, but the Ballet makes for a nice gift presentation (which I think is important, but your mileage may vary on that).

I like the OpenDimes!  They are cheap, less than $20 (?) each.  I recently told my son-in-law about them, and he is about to order a three-pack.

Huh--I think I'd heard the name of them around somewhere, but I'll have to look into them.  I suspect this isn't the last time I'm going to be giving BTC as a gift.

[DireWolfM14]

I know about the security issues, but I figured it was a small amount.

Lol, at this rate bitcoin will be worth $1M by 2030, and that "small amount" will be worth thousands.

The opendime looks pretty cool, I've been tempted to buy a three-pack just to have around.  They are electronic devices, susceptible to damage when exposed to heat or moisture, so I wouldn't use one for long term storage.  But as a gift that's intended to be swept within a few years, I think they are pretty snazzy.

[charlesmichel1]

Maybe you won't find it useful. Here is how I gifted Bitcoin to my brother. I created a new account on Ownr and deposited it. Then I printed out a short instruction (what app to download, what to do and etc.) with the seed-phrase and put it in the envelope. This way will suit teenagers more than gift cards.

[casperBGD]

OP, I wanted to give the gift of BTC this Christmas to someone who knows nothing about bitcoin, and I bought a Ballet wallet, loaded a little bit of bitcoin onto it and gave it to him as sort of a stocking stuffer.  I'd created a thread about the Ballet, wondering if anyone had actually used them--I know about the security issues, but I figured it was a small amount and I did advise the recipient to transfer the bitcoin to a more secure wallet.

I could have just made a paper wallet, but the Ballet makes for a nice gift presentation (which I think is important, but your mileage may vary on that).

I like the OpenDimes!  They are cheap, less than $20 (?) each.  I recently told my son-in-law about them, and he is about to order a three-pack.

Huh--I think I'd heard the name of them around somewhere, but I'll have to look into them.  I suspect this isn't the last time I'm going to be giving BTC as a gift.

yeah, if you want the feeling that you actually gave something to someone, you need some kind of physical card
but, I gave a BTC amount gift to my partner, to incentive her to learn something about BTC and technology, and used web3 extension wallet for that, since the amount is not much, any hardware wallet / card would eat up some amount from the gift, and she learned how to set up her wallet in the process

will she use it or not is a total different story, and I presume that this BTC will stay there for a long time

[Husires]

Why don't you give him the bitcoin money or gold coins:
It is similar to a paper money measuring 2.61 inches by 6.14 inches and the private key can be added at the bottom.

https://lynxartcollection.com/products/bitcoin-1-btc-physical-bitcoin-wallet-1
https://www.aliexpress.com/i/33029563416.html

There are some services that offer gold or silver plated cards with the Bitcoin logo.