Introducing Bitbills!

[kiba]

Dunno. Looks to me it's easy to counterfeit bitbills.

[BitterTea]

Dunno. Looks to me it's easy to counterfeit bitbills.

Could you explain how you believe you could do so?

[jtimon]

I'm confident that Bitbills are presently secure against both tampering and counterfeiting. We will continue to add more security features to future versions.

I see.
I though the hologram that hides the private key was just a sticker.

@SunAvatar
I know total security is impossible, I meant secure enough to trade with it.

I should have read the whole web first.

[SgtSpike]

I'm confident that Bitbills are presently secure against both tampering and counterfeiting. We will continue to add more security features to future versions.

I see.
I though the hologram that hides the private key was just a sticker.

@SunAvatar
I know total security is impossible, I meant secure enough to trade with it.

I should have read the whole web first.

Indeed.  Reading the whole web is definitely the best way to stay on top of... the whole web.

Call me when you're done.

[jtimon]

I'm confident that Bitbills are presently secure against both tampering and counterfeiting. We will continue to add more security features to future versions.

I see.
I though the hologram that hides the private key was just a sticker.

@SunAvatar
I know total security is impossible, I meant secure enough to trade with it.

I should have read the whole web first.

Indeed.  Reading the whole web is definitely the best way to stay on top of... the whole web.

Call me when you're done.

I was so arrogant that I didn't read the part "How does it work?" because (don't ask me why) I thought I already knew it.

[FatherMcGruder]

I still don't think expiration dates are necessary or wanted.  I would rather have less currency in circulation, than have my bitcoins randomly expire because I forgot to redeem them by a certain date.  I HATE expiration dates on things.  If I get a gift card, I want it to be good for as long as I live.  Same with gift certificates.  Expiration dates are frustrating, obnoxious, and I would never purposefully buy something with them.  I'm too forgetful of a person to buy money that expires.

I also hate when gift cards expire, deactivate, or when their value decays to nothing. Redeeming or reactivating a gift card is a pain. You have to either go to the right store to spend it or mail some forms to the Vogons. But, with something like BitBills, you can redeem, and simultaneously void, the notes yourself. All you need is the means to cut them open and a camera.

I expect that we will eventually have multiple printed bitcoin implementations and people will choose the ones they like or not choose any. As we all know, bitcoins work fine unprinted.

[Alex Beckenham]

Well here's a crazy idea that even I wouldn't like... bitbills.com could somehow backup the wallets they put onto the cards.

Put an expiration date on the card, say 10 years into the future.

If the card hasn't been imported by that date, bitbills.com can spend those coins.

What's wrong with that?

It's an extra point of attack on those coins if someone else also holds a copy, and you have to trust bitbills.com just a little bit more.

Some would prefer to think that they hold the ONLY copy with no backup.

[Ian Maxwell]

Yeah.... I think we might need some smaller denominations. 0.2 BTC maybe?

My plan, when I was going to do this, was to go in a 1 - 5 - 20 - 100 progression. You could do something similar, dropping the ฿10 card and introducing a 0.2, and then 0.05 and 0.01 as they become necessary. I don't think 20 is too big though---we used to have $10,000 bills in the States, before everyone got so hung up on drug dealers and money laundering. Hell, I might just buy a ฿100 card now, so I can use it to put my kids through college one day.

[Gavin Andresen]

It's an extra point of attack on those coins if someone else also holds a copy, and you have to trust bitbills.com just a little bit more.
Some would prefer to think that they hold the ONLY copy with no backup.

So whenever you meet (or communicate with) somebody who owns bitbills check your bills' public address against their bills' public address.  If there is significant counterfeiting going on, eventually you'll find a match.  Try to redeem both and you'll quickly find out which is real and which is counterfeit (or that both are counterfeit).

I was going to suggest creating a public Google Documents doc where people could enter their bitbill public keys, but griefers could just look at the block chain and pretend that they were holding bitbills that they don't actually own.

[BCEmporium]

I guess this has "gizmo-features", not actually trading features. Interesting, cool and let's you "get a grip" in to some BTC.

If you need a smartphone to scan the QR code, well... a smartphone generally has internet access (what would be the point of have one without it?), so you could use any online BTC bank to do payments in the real world, all it would take would be to navigate to the bank and transfer the balance.

[pliny]

If you need a smartphone to scan the QR code, well... a smartphone generally has internet access (what would be the point of have one without it?), so you could use any online BTC bank to do payments in the real world, all it would take would be to navigate to the bank and transfer the balance.

I think the idea is that you can instantly trade in person with Bitbills. A direct online BTC transfer takes time to be confirmed.

[BitterTea]

what if you lose them

what if you lose federal reserve notes

[FatherMcGruder]

I think the idea is that you can instantly trade in person with Bitbills. A direct online BTC transfer takes time to be confirmed.

You could also conduct a trade without waiting for confirmations by using Ripple, and settling the debt with a friend later on. As it stands though, Ripple requires a central server just like paper money requires a central issuer.

[Anonymous]

I just thought of another way these could be useful. You could sell them on ebay and then have shipping info for seller protection. If people receive a physical item they couldnt easily start a complaint against you for non delivery. You would then have both the address on the bitbill and shipping confirmation as proof you delivered.

[ryepdx]

Good work! :-)

[llama]

UPDATE: Most first run orders have been shipped! We will begin accepting preorders for the next round of Bitbills tonight!

[AmpEater]

UPDATE: Most first run orders have been shipped! We will begin accepting preorders for the next round of Bitbills tonight!

Fantastic. I was looking for a shipping update, and got a sweet photo too. 

My mother asked for and received 100 bitcoins for mothers day, but doesn't want to deal with protecting and backing up a wallet. This is the perfect solution

[kgo]

UPDATE: Most first run orders have been shipped! We will begin accepting preorders for the next round of Bitbills tonight!

HA!

The only thing that would have made that picture better would have been you rolling around in them.

Perhaps in bed.

Perhaps with a model.

[Luke-Jr]

I am interested in purchasing these cards... Can I Buy a few of them, 'unloaded,' once I have confirmed that they have arrived safely and are untamed with. You send the coins to the addresses contained?

IMO, this can be a security risk. What if they don't arrive safely? Then someone has legitimate "counterfeit" Bitbills with no work at all...

The fees for the 1 BTC card seem a bit high... $3 fee+shipping for a $7 card?

[jimbobway]

UPDATE: Most first run orders have been shipped! We will begin accepting preorders for the next round of Bitbills tonight!

Is it insured shipping?

Can you explain your manufacturing process and how it is secure?  During the manufacturing process who sees the QR Code?