bitcoincard.org

[pm7]

inBitweTrust:

Due to battery limitations (technology not there yet) the always-on mesh part will not work in the first versions of it, so radio will only be an and transmit when the card is on. We will probably implement full mesh when better battery technology comes out (carbon, or nanotube).

Also, do you shield your mobile phone? You can be tracked by Bluetooth/WiFi/cellular.

[1713963258]

1713963258

[inBitweTrust]

Also, do you shield your mobile phone? You can be tracked by Bluetooth/WiFi/cellular.

There is a difference between a device which is designed to feed specific information to marketers like credit cards and this and a cell phone which feeds information to emergency respondents when needed or the NSA.

But yes , sometimes I do shield my phone too....unfortunately, most of the time one cannot as the purpose of it is to receive messages and call continuously.

I suppose the benefit of this is you can swap them out and create multiple persona's like a burner cell phone though. It will be interesting to see how quickly marketers pressure mycelium to either get their real identity or remove the ability for multiple identities in a card like how google is trying to clean out the pseudonym's from its database and "encourage" users to use their real identities.

Good to know these features won't be incorporated in version 1 ... that's the version I will buy several of. The rest of it is not needed as I can text message and email from my cell phone just fine.

[cbeast]

Also, do you shield your mobile phone? You can be tracked by Bluetooth/WiFi/cellular.

It will be interesting to see how quickly marketers pressure mycelium to either get their real identity or remove the ability for multiple identities in a card like how google is trying to clean out the pseudonym's from its database and "encourage" users to use their real identities.

They could offer discounts to people that use a "signing" address from their wallet. That may be a "feature" to be added for those that want it. You would be surprised what people would do to save a few bucks.

[moriartybitcoin]

This looks fantastic! I want one too :-)

[IIOII]

Really great to find this project alive!

I think the card's thickness is not that important. I'd be satisfied even if it's 5x times thicker than conventional credit cards.

Is it possible to use this card as a standalone bitcoin payment device (so no additional wallet required for basic payment)? That would be huge.

[Rassah]

any ETA for the launch?

Still hoping for end of this year or early the next.

Will this still require the use of gateways / re-transmitters?

Yes, however the first version will not be able to do full mesh networks. The tiny battery is not strong enough to keep it running and retransmitting all day, so it will only transmit and receive transactions when it's on.

I love this project but get creeped the hell out by the consumer tracking "features" in this video:

It creeps me out too, but there is nothing you can do if you have a device that transmits radio, and someone else uses a radio scanner that scans for unique signals. It doesn't matter if that radio is our Bitcoincard, your cell phone, your Bluetooth device, or even an NFC chip in your credit card. Best you can do is not associate your real identity with the number associated with your radio (like you don't associate your bitcoin addresses with your identity). I don't know if we are even still planning this feature, since the video was made over two years ago, and A LOT has changed since then, both in bitcoin and with our device (which looks nothing like the one in the video, check out mycelium.com), but if this technology is pretty much inevitable, anyway, then I'd rather it be us that controls what comes out eventually (we're very much against government snooping, as you can probably tell by the features were already have, and plan to implement, into our app).

[Rassah]

It will be interesting to see how quickly marketers pressure mycelium to either get their real identity or remove the ability for multiple identities in a card like how google is trying to clean out the pseudonym's from its database and "encourage" users to use their real identities.

These cards will be generic bitcoin wallets, sold by PC hardware retailers, not credit cards issued by banks. Your real identity won't be associated with it, and I don't think there is even a place to enter such information. So there is no amount of pressuring that can be done to make us add what we physically have no way of adding. I would be more worried about merchants tracking you by facial recognition software, than by how many anonymous random numbered radios hang out in which isle.

Is it possible to use this card as a standalone bitcoin payment device (so no additional wallet required for basic payment)? That would be huge.

Initially, no. You would either need another card to send payments to, or a merchant would use a web connected dongle to receive payments. In the future we are considering adding NFC, which would let you send and receive transactions from the card to any NFC enabled device, like a phone. However, we are not entirely set on that. Our goal is to make these things as cheap as possible and be usable with the least amount of infrastructure (electricity and web access), and not necessarily as usable and feature full as possible. We want people to use bitcoin in third world countries where those things are unavailable, and in corrupt totalitarian countries where bitcoin may be severely restricted.

[kelvrhy]

This is real ??
Or just a planning ?

[giszmo]

Rassah I agree that imsi catchers are an issue for privacy but I don't agree that this card has to have the same problems. If I pay with it in a store, the store can assign it a customer id and regardless of me giving my name or not, it now can track me through the shop for all eternity as customer #42, link that to photos and eventlually retroactively to my name if ever I give it, only if the card keeps its ID. If the card identifies differently every day and the wallet is an HD wallet, I don't see such issues.

Sure, to prevent certain kinds of DOS attacks, you can't allow to change the ID at any speed, but once per day would be nice for the merchant, as it could still track overall user movements in his shop but it would also be nice for the user as it has some privacy when coming back tomorrow.

[QuestionAuthority]

Dmitry, your website says this project started back in 2008 as a text messaging system. Is that still going to be a feature? Could you use it to send uninterruptible messages? It would be really cool if you could. Since I live in a densely populated tech savvy area I anticipate many users being near me at any time. Will this work like the typical mesh network topology with each node relaying data for the network or will it simply be a device used to transfer from you to a register? As the release draws near will you start accepting preorders?

This is a big thread and I didn't read all of it. Sorry if my questions have already been addressed.

[seattlenonsmoker]

"Now, imagine a card that can grant you any wish, even if that wish is for more wishes. What does this card look like? Jesus. Combined with Godzilla.  It also comes with the entire Beatles catalog in .ogg format that you can play directly into your brain through tiny lasers that combine to form an ad-hoc laser network to signal Batman."

Next imagine unicorns vomiting rainbow waterfall faucets of bitcoins right into your Primedice deposit address!

[Aswan]

Will this thing be unidentifiable from outside?
What I mean is, does each single device have a unique ID? I don't want my movement be tracked which is why I currently cannot use mobile bitcoin payments T_T... This device might change that but only it it does not have a unique ID that can be identified wirelessly

[cbeast]

Will this thing be unidentifiable from outside?
What I mean is, does each single device have a unique ID? I don't want my movement be tracked which is why I currently cannot use mobile bitcoin payments T_T... This device might change that but only it it does not have a unique ID that can be identified wirelessly

I would hope that having a unique ID would be optional and that it can be changed easily.

[pm7]

It will be interesting to see how quickly marketers pressure mycelium to either get their real identity or remove the ability for multiple identities in a card like how google is trying to clean out the pseudonym's from its database and "encourage" users to use their real identities.

These cards will be generic bitcoin wallets, sold by PC hardware retailers, not credit cards issued by banks. Your real identity won't be associated with it, and I don't think there is even a place to enter such information.

Aswan, cbeast: I don't think there will be any ID assigned to card other then your Bitcoin Address, which can be changed.

[Aswan]

It will be interesting to see how quickly marketers pressure mycelium to either get their real identity or remove the ability for multiple identities in a card like how google is trying to clean out the pseudonym's from its database and "encourage" users to use their real identities.

These cards will be generic bitcoin wallets, sold by PC hardware retailers, not credit cards issued by banks. Your real identity won't be associated with it, and I don't think there is even a place to enter such information.

Aswan, cbeast: I don't think there will be any ID assigned to card other then your Bitcoin Address, which can be changed.

I hope it's true. I am not only talking about a hardware ID but also an ID that depends on the cards software (something like MAC Addresses maybe?)

I am looking forward to getting all the information about the products once it's revealed. I'm rly excited

[Rassah]

Rassah, your website says this project started back in 2008 as a text messaging system. Is that still going to be a feature?

Not in the first version. Since there won't be an always on mesh connection, text messaging wouldn't work. We will probably add it once we boost the battery power to be on all day.

Since I live in a densely populated tech savvy area I anticipate many users being near me at any time. Will this work like the typical mesh network topology with each node relaying data for the network or will it simply be a device used to transfer from you to a register?

One we get a mesh version out, it will be a true mesh. First version will only transfer from you to register or another card.

As the release draws near will you start accepting preorders?

Not sure. Probably not. We needed to raise money for Entropy to be able to make it (mostly developed and funded by the devs), while the Bitcoincard is the main company product that is getting developed no matter what. We will probably appreciate commitments from resellers and such to get an idea for how many to make in the first batch run.

[QuestionAuthority]

Rassah, your website says this project started back in 2008 as a text messaging system. Is that still going to be a feature?

Not in the first version. Since there won't be an always on mesh connection, text messaging wouldn't work. We will probably add it once we boost the battery power to be on all day.

Since I live in a densely populated tech savvy area I anticipate many users being near me at any time. Will this work like the typical mesh network topology with each node relaying data for the network or will it simply be a device used to transfer from you to a register?

One we get a mesh version out, it will be a true mesh. First version will only transfer from you to register or another card.

As the release draws near will you start accepting preorders?

Not sure. Probably not. We needed to raise money for Entropy to be able to make it (mostly developed and funded by the devs), while the Bitcoincard is the main company product that is getting developed no matter what. We will probably appreciate commitments from resellers and such to get an idea for how many to make in the first batch run.

Thanks for answering. It sounds like it will be a great product. I can't wait to try one. Maybe think about offering a trade in option for people that order the first version so they can trade up to the great new features as they're released.

[Rassah]

Got some answers. The radio will not have any identifying numbers, like a MAC, but the first version of the device will not support HD, using the same address for all transactions like the old Mycelium Wallet used to do. You can still change the address manually though, and at least you won't be tracked by your radio.

[ABISprotocol]

"Now, imagine a card that can grant you any wish, even if that wish is for more wishes. What does this card look like? Jesus. Combined with Godzilla.  It also comes with the entire Beatles catalog in .ogg format that you can play directly into your brain through tiny lasers that combine to form an ad-hoc laser network to signal Batman."

I like your imagination.  I look forward to the mccorvicard.

[pm7]

any ETA for the launch?

Still hoping for end of this year or early the next.

Any update? It's almost Q2 of new year.