My Christening Gift to My Goddaughter, Bitcoin

[GreatArkansas]

Last weekend, I became a Godfather for my 8-month-old goddaughter.

Instead of giving cash or toys, I decided to give her something unique: Bitcoin.




I created a wallet from an open-source mobile wallet - Blockstream or Green(before) wallet.
wrote down the 12-word recovery phrase on paper..
But before this, I already sent and double-checked everything if these 12-word recovery phrases are all accurate..

The reason why I instead gave 12-word recovery phrases (bip 39 supported) is to make it easier for her or her dad to access the wallet.
Plus, her dad is one of my close friends that I am the one introduced Bitcoin to, so he knows what he is doing.


For me, it's a small gift today, but I hope it will grow with her together soon (if her dad does not decide to sell it  )



This is how I prepared everything:

In theory, the idea is great.  But my paranoia can not stop making me think this is a really dangerous thing in practice!

First you need to create the design.  Considering most people do not have editing skills, I assume you downloaded a file from some where and started from there.  Which is already a possible danger.  Then you create a Seed and wrote it down in the design.  I have to guess you did not do all of this on an offline computer that got wiped after.  And then you communicated that file to a printer which if modern probably has an Internet connection and possibly even storage.  Which to my high level paranoia, it means the gift could be compromised!

If you considered all of these things, well done!  But I imagine more people are going to do this now and one of them will do it the wrong way!

My way would be much more simple.  The same design but the Seed is written by pen.  That removes a large portion of the possibilities of things going wrong.

Thanks for this. I'm aware of this; I entered and printed the seeds on my secured MacOS computer during OFFLINE.
I first have the template in PDF -> no seeds or public address printed yet.
I created a Python script that I will run offline, and printer is ready to print: In this script, I will enter the 12 words, the public address, and proceed = it will direct print the paper, after that (this does not generate new PDF file as it is directed to print).
 I also make sure no more Preview open or files were generated, and the recycle bin is also empty before I turn the internet back on.

[Merit.s]

This is good and the best you can give to her because you have automatically set up an investment for her that will grow simultaneously with her age overtime. I hope she appreciates it when she grow up.

I haven't gifted bitcoin to anyone before and I hope I can do that someday. You should also guide her on the spiritual path too because that is one of the duty of a godfather.

[Marykeller]

This is very thoughtful of you to give Bitcoin as a gift to your 8-month-old goddaughter. Not everyone will know the worth of what you have done till some years have passed by. They will all know.

I want to commend you for choosing Bitcoin for your granddaughter. I know that the dad of your granddaughter will be appreciative of this gift(Bitcoin) given to her daughter. He will hold it dear to his heart and keep the seed phase safe, until his daughter comes of age. He will then show her the most precious gift her godfather gave her when she was little

[nc50lc]

The reason why I instead gave 12-word recovery phrases (bip 39 supported) is to make it easier for her or her dad to access the wallet.
Plus, her dad is one of my close friends that I am the one introduced Bitcoin to, so he knows what he is doing.

I had a similar idea years ago, but it's more of a sealed laminated paper wallet rather than printed in plain view.

By the way, for privacy, you might want to edit the first image some more to fully cover the address' characters.
Even with those visible characters plus a glimpse of the rest, it can be easily compared by those who have a compilation of funded addresses.
But I guess it's too late for that now since it's already auto-archived in various websites.
At least the original thread's image can be more private.

[Oasisman]

Wow! That's a unique gift for a Goddaughter.
Pretty sure that when she grows up capable enough to understand how Bitcoin works, the value of that gift will probably be 10 times more than you originally bought it for her.
I'd love to do the same, but my friends are not a fan of cryptocurrency. I'm afraid they're not gonna appreciate it and think it's worthless, and end up losing the paper. I don't want that to happen, it's a waste of money.
Lucky you, you have a friend/"kumpare" who knows about Bitcoin. So, I might stick to the traditional gifts, lol.

Anyway, I think it's better if you printed the 12 phrases on a laminated card, like the glittering trading cards, to make it more presentable.

[ImGenius]

-snip

It's a great idea to give a gift like this. Especially when you give Bitcoin as a gift I think they'll hold onto it for years. If you gave them fiat currency they'd probably spend it in a few days. You wrote the seed phrase by hand, it's shows that you're an expert in this field because if you printed seed phrase out it would have been on the computer which would have been a huge problem.

[aoluain]

Great idea, well done to the OP.

The advantage here is that the childs Dad knows about Bitcoin and xan relate to the significance
of the present. This approach probably wouldnt work with every scenario.

The only down side I can see is the storage of the seed phrase and how it can last and remain
intact for the next 16 to 18+ years until the child decides to access the wallet.

Never the less it will be a super cool story for her to tell in many years to come.

[DubemIfedigbo001]

Last weekend, I became a Godfather for my 8-month-old goddaughter.

Instead of giving cash or toys, I decided to give her something unique: Bitcoin.

This is really unique, It's an impressive way to gift her, wiring her future finances from the present, she might well be the youngest investor in her family having a digital investment even before she knows it's value.

For me, it's a small gift today, but I hope it will grow with her together soon (if her dad does not decide to sell it  )

You should've used nLockTime to prevent spending of the sats until the girl is up to 15 years of age, just to ensure the UTXO is not included in a block anytime soon and also that it is held long enough to become very profitable for your God daughter... My weird thoughts though

[348Judah]

One of the best idea to use in giving people gift is to design a way of using Bitcoin as something that is valuable and can appreciate over time, though the recipient may not really value it for now because they don't know the words or how relevant it's future benefit could serve them until that time comes and the discovered the value of what they once got as a gift, bitcoin appreciate in value and if we must consider an inheritance for our children, this should be our priority before any other.

[YellowSwap]

If the dad doesn't spend the Bitcoin 😔😭😔

Maybe I am the only one who has weird parents? Whenever someone gives anything shiny and costly to me I always want my father or mother to keep it for me but they always spend them.

The only thing I had was biscuits and cakes, or something they can't eat that will likely spike their blood sugar, but money? Hell no, I don't trust parents with anything money that's given their kids.

I would prefer something that can lock that Bitcoin till that child is up to a certain stage, that's when the Bitcoin will really becomes her own.

[Taskford]

If the dad doesn't spend the Bitcoin 😔😭😔

Maybe I am the only one who has weird parents? Whenever someone gives anything shiny and costly to me I always want my father or mother to keep it for me but they always spend them.

The only thing I had was biscuits and cakes, or something they can't eat that will likely spike their blood sugar, but money? Hell no, I don't trust parents with anything money that's given their kids.

I would prefer something that can lock that Bitcoin till that child is up to a certain stage, that's when the Bitcoin will really becomes her own.

If he's experience Bitcoin investor maybe he won't think about selling knowing its possible long term potential. Also he does not own that gift and its crazy to know if that will end up being sold.

But still great initiative done by OP since somehow we could see that its really possible to gift Bitcoins and prepare something valuable for their future.

It will be good if we could see the father also do his part and save also some Bitcoin for the future of his daughter. But also make sure the funds they used is their extra and not those something important like to used for their basic needs.

[Finestream]

The most practical gift so far. Bitcoin will definitely grow its value from time to time, so its a good preparation for her college funds, or probably for her ideal investments in the future. As long as she has her dad and godfather like you, gifting her with bitcoin will never go wasted.

This is also one of my goals in the future, to gift the people dear to me with bitcoin so that not only me will grow along with bitcoin, but also the people around who also wish to grow on their own. But I will make sure that they are completely aware how to manage and secure their bitcoin 24/7 so that no amount of bitcoin will be wasted.

[Lucius]

This is not something we haven't seen before on this forum, many people have given Bitcoin as gifts on various occasions (birthdays, weddings...) and the idea in itself is not bad if the recipient knows what he actually got.

I personally wouldn't do that for at least two reasons :

The first is that I don't want anyone to know that I own or even know anything about Bitcoin, and the second is that I think a lot of people would react badly because people today, more than ever, have become very materialistic and want gifts that they can touch and see.

[Free Market Capitalist]

If the dad doesn't spend the Bitcoin 😔😭😔

Maybe I am the only one who has weird parents? Whenever someone gives anything shiny and costly to me I always want my father or mother to keep it for me but they always spend them.

That's what I was thinking, and not because of my parents, but because it wouldn't be the first time I've heard of parents who open a savings account for their child and end up spending the money themselves.

I'm also a little skeptical for some of the reasons that have been mentioned, as well as others. Until she is older, that key could get lost, burned, stolen, etc.

But the main thing is that it's better to teach your children to fish than to give them fish.

[Renampun]

It's a pretty good idea to give the child a gift in Bitcoin.. because gifts like money or toys can be used up or lose value over time, while Bitcoin at least has the potential to grow in the long term. hopefully the child and especially the father, realize how valuable Bitcoin is.. I don't know how much it's worth, but for now it might not be that significant, but if the child manages the wallet when she grows up, I think the value will probably be much greater than when it was first received.

[suzanne5223]

This is not something we haven't seen before on this forum, many people have given Bitcoin as gifts on various occasions (birthdays, weddings...) and the idea in itself is not bad if the recipient knows what he actually got.

I believe the recipient will know the value of what she got since the father of the little girl was someone that learn about Bitcoin through OP.

Plus, her dad is one of my close friends that I am the one introduced Bitcoin to, so he knows what he is doing.

I personally wouldn't do that for at least two reasons :

The first is that I don't want anyone to know that I own or even know anything about Bitcoin, and the second is that I think a lot of people would react badly because people today, more than ever, have become very materialistic and want gifts that they can touch and see.

Yes, people are more materialistic these dys nd lso wnt free things that will be meaningful with BTC getting more traction among the settings where it was once not acknowledged.
It is possible that some individual may also want the samething from the OP when they give birth or have their birthday.
Having said that, I don't think we should expect something like that from the parent (father) of the baby since he already have knowledge about BTC, which i believe he also know the doS and dontS

[Dr.Bitcoin_Strange]

Congratulations to the baby, she already has her first Bitcoin if only the parents will keep it safe for her until the is old enough to make her decisions, I'm only concerned about the security of the coins, if her parents are not Bitcoin enlightened, they could just casually handle the seed phrase or maybe misplace it or let it to the wrong hands, it's best you just encourage them to keep the Bitcoin safe for the girl until she come of age else they might sell it sooner than expected or even lose the wallet information.

[Zaguru12]

I personally wouldn't do that for at least two reasons :

The first is that I don't want anyone to know that I own or even know anything about Bitcoin, and the second is that I think a lot of people would react badly because people today, more than ever, have become very materialistic and want gifts that they can touch and see.

I think the reason why he actually went for bitcoin is probably because the father of the son was into bitcoin already and since the OP mentored the father he already knows that the OP is involve into bitcoin and that’s the reason why he actually went for this option, i think the child’s father will actually know the weight of this option of gift, if it was to be a non bitcoiner they wouldn’t know the value and would appreciate the other gift options.

I actually agree though that we can actually do things like this in privacy you can actually set up a wallet for your child for probably inheritance and keep it a secret till it’s needed but I think this particular one is a bit different due to the position of the child father and the OP

[SatoPrincess]

That’s really nice of you. I did the same thing a couple of years ago. Bought the coins, wrote the seed phrase on a paper and gave it to the parents. The only difference is that they do not hodl bitcoin so I had to explain how it works to them. They seem to appreciate the gesture, hopefully they made backups of the seed phrase.

[CryptoHeadlineNews]

I personally wouldn't do that for at least two reasons :

The first is that I don't want anyone to know that I own or even know anything about Bitcoin,

Yes, I clearly understand your point of you wanting to stay anonymous and not wanting anybody to know you own or has anything  to do with Bitcoin, base on for security reasons. But on the contrary in regards to O.P's case, he clearly stated that the father of this his goddaughter is his friend, and also one of the people he introduced into investing in Bitcoin. Which means the man also knows he is into Bitcoin, and as such he just decided to use it as a medium to gift his friend's new born baby some Bitcoin as a means of creating a lasting memory. So I don't think there is anything wrong gifting people who already know you are into Bitcoin some Bitcoin.

and the second is that I think a lot of people would react badly because people today, more than ever, have become very materialistic and want gifts that they can touch and see.

For me, what I think will determine if they will react badly or not is the value of the Bitcoin that is been presented as a gift, because I'm 100% sure that if you were to be presented a gift of food items worth $100 and a gift in Bitcoin worth $1000.. Which will you collect?