Bitcoin as a gift cards

[macson]

According to Simon Grylka, head of operations at Värdex, Cryptonow offers a simple onboarding channel for would-be cryptocurrency adopters daunted by the usual avenues for acquiring virtual currency. For Grylka, the Cryptonow voucher is akin to digital gold coins.

The Cryptonow voucher cards will be available in three different variants ranging from 100 to 500 francs ($107 to $535). The Värdex Bitcoin gift card product is coming amid continued growth in Switzerland’s crypto and blockchain industry.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/major-swiss-retailers-set-to-debut-bitcoin-gift-cards

I think this is a very interesting concept.

instead of making Bitcoin a means of payment, a Swiss company is converting Bitcoin into a kind of voucher so that its users can spend Bitcoin indirectly.

I'm curious about your response to the concept offered by Cryptonow....are you agree with their concepts?

[1714825970]

1714825970

[androyster]

I wonder how they will handle the volatility of BTC?  Maybe the build in a safety factor?

[DdmrDdmr]

<…> instead of making Bitcoin a means of payment, a Swiss company is converting Bitcoin into a kind of voucher so that its users can spend Bitcoin indirectly.<…>

I figure that what they are talking about is this: https://www.vaerdex.ch/products/cryptonow

Cointelegraph’s article states that:

Presently, the options available to them would be to redeem the vouchers via an exchange service or sell the BTC amount loaded on the card using one of the 70 Bitcoin ATMs operated by Värdex.

You don’t really spend the bitcoins directly. Infact, you purchase the voucher for x amount of CHF, but you need to activate it in order to convert the CHF to bitcoins. Activation is performed for a fee between 2,9% and 5,9% (depending on the actual reseller).

The card itself has a private key and a public key (you need to trust that the privte key is indeed known only to you). Similar therefore to a paper wallet in a sense, not acting as a card to spend your bitcoins directly at a store, but rather to store them (or redeem them as stated in the above quote).

Edit: better described here: https://cryptonow.ch/en

[Matimtim]

This thing sounds good, but the problem is bitcoin price isn't fix, maybe today its price is good, but it might be not tommorow, but yes its possible that bitcoin place in a card with a certain price however its price is approximately not totally sure how much it is.

As now i think we have physical coins of bitcoin with certain amount of bitcoin on it, just what you're pointing out.

[sunsilk]

It is just another use case of bitcoin to make the no coiners use it easily. But it is no different from the way we spend it for purchasing things, online or physically.

It may seem easy to hear as you can receive or give bitcoins as a gift card for the receiver has to spend it or can simply do the same as we do and that is to hold too.

[Ucy]

This thing sounds good, but the problem is bitcoin price isn't fix, maybe today its price is good, but it might be not tommorow, but yes its possible that bitcoin place in a card with a certain price however its price is approximately not totally sure how much it is.

As now i think we have physical coins of bitcoin with certain amount of bitcoin on it, just what you're pointing out.

The price probably won't matter too much to people who will be saving such vouchers long-term.
I think the price would need to fluctuate moderately without sacrificing deflationary feature of cryptocurrency for the voucher to be used for buying and selling like physical fiat currencies.
And there should be ways to guarantee the safety of the private keys for this to considered safe.

[DdmrDdmr]

<...>

The faq section on https://cryptonow.ch/en states that "the cryptocurrency will be transferred to your cryptonow wallet." I wasn’t exactly sure what they meant by that (the redemption process asks for a valid wallet id, pin and phone to proceed), but I found what seems to be the procedure here:
https://vaerdexhelp.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360019928539-How-to-import-BTC-from-a-cryptonow-wallet-to-a-desktop-PC-wallet-

So the way it works, I figure, is that you redeem the card, the bitcoins get sent to the card’s public address, and from there on it’s up to you if you simply hold it there, or move it to a more dynamic wallet of your choice, that allows you to import a private key.

[davis196]

I wonder how they will handle the volatility of BTC?  Maybe the build in a safety factor?

Volatility isn't the biggest problem here.The biggest problem is that the buyers might get scammed by this service.Such Bitcoin gift card services already exist.Check out Cryptovoucher.io-they aren't that popular and I see mixed reviews about their service.
Having Bitcoin gift cards simply adds another layer of risk of being scammed and a merchant,that requires fees for a service,that is almost completely useless.

[verita1]

If I received a bitcoin voucher from Cryptonow I would see what would be the most convenient to take advantage of the benefit. If I use it for the purpose that it was created, I am helping to make bitcoin known in my community because the company that issues gift cards does so taking advantage of the bitcoin boom to know the public's response.

I remember that once for a reward campaign that I participated, the administrators offered us Amazon gift cards or tokens as a means of payment and most of the participants chose the tokens.

[macson]

<…> instead of making Bitcoin a means of payment, a Swiss company is converting Bitcoin into a kind of voucher so that its users can spend Bitcoin indirectly.<…>

I figure that what they are talking about is this: https://www.vaerdex.ch/products/cryptonow

Cointelegraph’s article states that:

Presently, the options available to them would be to redeem the vouchers via an exchange service or sell the BTC amount loaded on the card using one of the 70 Bitcoin ATMs operated by Värdex.

You don’t really spend the bitcoins directly. Infact, you purchase the voucher for x amount of CHF, but you need to activate it in order to convert the CHF to bitcoins. Activation is performed for a fee between 2,9% and 5,9% (depending on the actual reseller).

The card itself has a private key and a public key (you need to trust that the privte key is indeed known only to you). Similar therefore to a paper wallet in a sense, not acting as a card to spend your bitcoins directly at a store, but rather to store them (or redeem them as stated in the above quote).

Edit: better described here: https://cryptonow.ch/en

thanks for the fully explanation, i missed that.  the scenario they offer is more precisely what @sunsilk wrote.  

It is just another use case of bitcoin to make the no coiners use it easily. But it is no different from the way we spend it for purchasing things, online or physically.

It may seem easy to hear as you can receive or give bitcoins as a gift card for the receiver has to spend it or can simply do the same as we do and that is to hold too.

I like their concept that actually tricks the government, paying with Bitcoin directly is prohibited but paying with Bitcoin vouchers is not prohibited cmiiw

[Sterbens]

I think even though this will be implemented soon, this procedure will not be conducive. The reason is, using vouchers will certainly make the value not fixed and change according to the movement of bitcoin. So even if it is implemented, it will be very ineffective in the long run. needs to be reconsidered. there is some sort of advantage that is being taken from one particular party, especially Cryptonow.

[Hippocrypto]

It is just another use case of bitcoin to make the no coiners use it easily. But it is no different from the way we spend it for purchasing things, online or physically.

It may seem easy to hear as you can receive or give bitcoins as a gift card for the receiver has to spend it or can simply do the same as we do and that is to hold too.

That depends on the end user for how they wanted to utilize the gift they have received. I would like to suggest, that having gift like digital currency should be cherished and don't spend it at glance. Take it as most valuable, because bitcoin nowadays became so expensive and we don't know we might see that the price would go beyond limitations. Profit would certainly become more efficient as time gets older.

[Poker Player]

It doesn't seem to be any different from bitrefill, which works very well. It's good that there is competition, and, yes, while this is not the use originally intended for bitcoin, it helps its adoption.

[Renampun]

It doesn't seem to be any different from bitrefill, which works very well. It's good that there is competition, and, yes, while this is not the use originally intended for bitcoin, it helps its adoption.

*for sure, it's my first time hearing this, it's quite interesting...
An interesting thing like this will certainly make it possible to accelerate the mass adoption of Bitcoin, so is Bitrefill the first to implement this. *hope someday bitcoin vouchers like this available in my city

[dkbit98]

This cryptonow Bitcoin vouchers are only working for Switzerland and Liechtenstein and for limited number of shops, and what is more important is that they have pre-printed public and private key on the back of the card, so it can be very unsecure to use this vouchers, and it all reminds me on that Ballet card wallet but is even less secure than Ballet.
One more thing is that people probably need to pass some kyc aml registration when they buy this voucher, and that is one more minus for me.
I would never recommend anyone to use this vouchers until they improve and remove printed private keys.

[Twentyonepaylots]

For now, this is only available for countries like Switzerland Liechtenstein. Plus it doesn't help that the small percentage of people using bitcoin there could heavily affect this otherwise revolutionary concept. If the US could adopt such concept and make it more accessible to the general public by allowing establishment to sell these gift vouchers, this could have a very gopd chance of getting popular.

[lalabotax]

Isn't this already there and applied? Bitcoin gftcard is already on several merchants and is being traded. No matter what, the point is to still transfer Bitcoin. However, it is possible that every merchant has its own mechanism. However, if we do get it or want to use a merchant giftcard, we should be more vigilant so as not to experience a scam.

[AniviaBtc]

This thing sounds good, but the problem is bitcoin price isn't fix, maybe today its price is good, but it might be not tommorow, but yes its possible that bitcoin place in a card with a certain price however its price is approximately not totally sure how much it is.

As now i think we have physical coins of bitcoin with certain amount of bitcoin on it, just what you're pointing out.

Bitcoin should stay as a store of value or asset into an investment rather than making it into gift cards or voucher things.

Let's just enjoy utilizing or managing bitcoin in the market because of its volatility and it is really hard to put this coin into a gift card due to its value.

Let bitcoin, be bitcoin. You can gift bitcoin by sending a certain amount to them instead of transforming it into a voucher, send it directly so that we will not have any problem with that. Bitcoin's price in the market is not stable so it is really impossible for us to make it into a gift check.

[SquirrelJulietGarden]

Bitcoin itself can be used as a gift. You don't have to buy any gift card to give anyone a gift in bitcoin.

Using Locktime for inheritance planning, backups or gifts
Dead man's switch. Website for more details about that service. It has Free and Premium accounts. 2 recipients max for Free accounts and 100 for Premium accounts. With locked gift bitcoin, I think the Free account is enough as gift sender will plan to do it with one or two people.

[isaac_clarke22]

~

It's not that far from being stolen from what I can see. Even back then when I was buying a gaming credit like Steam credits, it turned out to be used ones. I guess just hackers getting smarter these days.
I wonder how would it go if it is Bitcoin. It is not even centralized and there ain't nobody that's gonna help you to retrieve that stolen amount.

I remembered someone in Marketplace section back then that he was planning to make some business for prepaid Bitcoin. I wonder how it went through now though.

[sunsilk]

It is just another use case of bitcoin to make the no coiners use it easily. But it is no different from the way we spend it for purchasing things, online or physically.

It may seem easy to hear as you can receive or give bitcoins as a gift card for the receiver has to spend it or can simply do the same as we do and that is to hold too.

That depends on the end user for how they wanted to utilize the gift they have received. I would like to suggest, that having gift like digital currency should be cherished and don't spend it at glance. Take it as most valuable, because bitcoin nowadays became so expensive and we don't know we might see that the price would go beyond limitations. Profit would certainly become more efficient as time gets older.

That's what I'm actually saying. The receiver can do anything that he wants. He/she can use it like the way we use it. And they also have an option to hold it just like the normal strategy that we do on it and treats it as an investment.

AFAIK, there were many in the past that have received a gift in the form of bitcoin and this will continue. Those receivers, if they're wise up to keep it as they know the true value of it, that's a better decision for them to choose rather than spending it quickly. Although, that's what it should be.

[Kittygalore]

This thing sounds good, but the problem is bitcoin price isn't fix, maybe today its price is good, but it might be not tommorow, but yes its possible that bitcoin place in a card with a certain price however its price is approximately not totally sure how much it is.

Well, volatility has been a problem but I think that the consumer knowing how dumb some of them are, I think that there won't be any problem that they are going to buy a volatile gift card/voucher.

[slaman29]

Locktime is a really good feature in Bitcoin but just not sure if leaving instructions on how to use it would be enough for people, unless they get help of a lawyer and someone who knows Bitcoin (which then makes it risky for me).

Worst case scenario leave your private keys somewhere with a location revealed in your will:)

[Lorence.xD]

Bitcoin itself can be used as a gift. You don't have to buy any gift card to give anyone a gift in bitcoin.

Using Locktime for inheritance planning, backups or gifts
Dead man's switch. Website for more details about that service. It has Free and Premium accounts. 2 recipients max for Free accounts and 100 for Premium accounts. With locked gift bitcoin, I think the Free account is enough as gift sender will plan to do it with one or two people.

Why do all of this thing when you can easily do something simple like a cold wallet coins, they are more simple and easy to maneuver. Websites that involve safekeeping bitcoin or escrowing for a long time is not really a good idea as the website can shut down anytime and have all those escrowed bitcoin stolen right in front of your eyes. Make the gifts simple, it is the thought that counts at the end of the day. Bitcoin gift cards doesn't really ring any originality because as mentioned in the quote above, there are existing ways to do the same thing.

[Tap_Global]

This is a great concept - the only problem as said before is the volatility of the price. Another cool idea is the crypto mastercard - we actually have our own already setup, have you tried it?

[MCobian]

It's actually a good idea to turn Bitcoin into gift cards, but it depends on the user whether they are comfortable using Bitcoin as gift cards or not.
Because based on the articles I read, that Bitcoin gift card users must perform the KYC procedure. After that, what made me hesitate to use
Bitcoin gift cards was that there was a private key on the back of the card. So anyone can use these Bitcoin gift cards, this is very unsafe.
Until now I had no interest in using Bitcoin gift cards, I think Bitcoin is better as a normal means of payment like fiat.

[mezzaluna]

According to Simon Grylka, head of operations at Värdex, Cryptonow offers a simple onboarding channel for would-be cryptocurrency adopters daunted by the usual avenues for acquiring virtual currency. For Grylka, the Cryptonow voucher is akin to digital gold coins.

The Cryptonow voucher cards will be available in three different variants ranging from 100 to 500 francs ($107 to $535). The Värdex Bitcoin gift card product is coming amid continued growth in Switzerland’s crypto and blockchain industry.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/major-swiss-retailers-set-to-debut-bitcoin-gift-cards

I think this is a very interesting concept.

instead of making Bitcoin a means of payment, a Swiss company is converting Bitcoin into a kind of voucher so that its users can spend Bitcoin indirectly.

I'm curious about your response to the concept offered by Cryptonow....are you agree with their concepts?

There was one topic I remember stumbling this subject, it is about the idea of using Bitcoin or other Cryptocurrencies as a form of gift. If this idea was given proper attention, we would be seeing an advancement in more ideas that would revolve around Cryptocurrencies because it means that we could use it as a way to do our transactions with digital money. It would only be natural for businesses to try and open this kind of payment method in their establishments as a sign of trust and following the current trend in the Financial Technology.

[Nikole Fischer]

It sounds quite interesting. I would try to use this voucher. I think it's a good thing when companies come up with new features with Bitcoin because the technology develops and attracts new people in this way.

The gift card idea has been around for a long time. I and my friends crypto-users got each other such cards for Christmas. So it's a perfect alternative for a gift.

[magneto]

This is the worst idea that I've ever heard.

Essentially, you would be taking bitcoin and putting it in the custody of a centralised entity - who then securitizes it as some sort of "gift card"...

If the private key is inscribed on the card itself, then isn't this the same as physical bitcoins that have been around for ages? But if it's not, doesn't this introduce the very risk of fractional reserve banking that we've fought so long to disrupt?

Leave bitcoin transactions on the bitcoin blockchain. It's that simple.

[michellee]

I think that is their strategy to invite more people to start to use bitcoin. People can try to buy something at the store using the voucher, and they only need to use the voucher. Maybe the other company will follow that step to attract people, and they can buy the voucher from that company and then use it to purchase. But besides using bitcoin as a gift card, maybe people can use bitcoin directly from their wallets to see how to implement bitcoin as the payment method.

[Vishnu.Reang]

I wonder how they will handle the volatility of BTC?  Maybe the build in a safety factor?

Those who are concerned about volatility can always go for gift cards that are denominated in fiat currency. Bitcoin gift cards are for those who believe that in the near future Bitcoin may become globally accepted almost everywhere. People like me are not selling our BTC right now (despite prices close to ATH levels), because we believe that in the near future BTC may go up even more.

[imstillthebest]

we have a couple of websites were you can buy giftcards by using your bitcoins but the giftcards available on that shop are not btc but they are from popular brands ( playstore , amazon , playstation ) but im interested to see how btc gift card work  .
 this is going to be great if it work directly and no need to setup a btc wallet before you use it .
 perfect for people with zero knowledge in btc but interested to try and use a btc for a short period of time

[Olivia Wolff]

It sounds quite interesting. I would try to use this voucher. I think it's a good thing when companies come up with new features with Bitcoin because the technology develops and attracts new people in this way.

The gift card idea has been around for a long time. I and my friends crypto-users got each other such cards for Christmas. So it's a perfect alternative for a gift.

I've read a lot about gift cards. I was thinking of giving my brother the card for his birthday since he just started doing crypto. Could you please tell me where you bought these gift cards? Was it difficult to create and replenish it? Thanks in advance.

[Nikole Fischer]

I've read a lot about gift cards. I was thinking of giving my brother the card for his birthday since he just started doing crypto. Could you please tell me where you bought these gift cards? Was it difficult to create and replenish it? Thanks in advance.

I've used the EXMO gift card. There're only a few exchanges that have such a feature, which is why I settled on EXMO. I've created this card pretty quickly, so I think if you use the instructions, it won't take a lot of your time. Replenishment also took me just a minute. I recommend you to read more about gift cards and choose the one that is more convenient for you, but I was pleased with EXMO.

Hope I was useful!

[OmegaStarScream]

I've read a lot about gift cards. I was thinking of giving my brother the card for his birthday since he just started doing crypto. Could you please tell me where you bought these gift cards? Was it difficult to create and replenish it? Thanks in advance.

You should give a paper wallet and teach him how to use it instead of using a centralized service/exchange for that. And if you want something a bit fancy, and easier to use, you can go with an OpenDime device.

[Nikole Fischer]

I've read a lot about gift cards. I was thinking of giving my brother the card for his birthday since he just started doing crypto. Could you please tell me where you bought these gift cards? Was it difficult to create and replenish it? Thanks in advance.

You should give a paper wallet and teach him how to use it instead of using a centralized service/exchange for that. And if you want something a bit fancy, and easier to use, you can go with an OpenDime device.

I see no problem in begging to explore the crypto world from the exchange. I and a lot of my friends went through this, so I advise doing the same. Especially if her brother is interested in trading, then an exchange will work much better than a local wallet. That's why I recommend EXMO because, in my opinion, it's the most convenient for beginners since it has a user-friendly interface and low prices. What else do newbies need?