Bitcoin Checks : R3

[psjbeisler]

I still have a few of the misprinted ones if anybody wants to try their luck hacking a check w/o ruining their own.

[Boussac]

I ordered a freebie. Thanks

[TehZomB]

Got the freebee today. Looks pretty nice, I have to say.

[Joshwaa]

Got mine today too. Very nice I am impressed. Thanks!

[enmaku]

I still have a few of the misprinted ones if anybody wants to try their luck hacking a check w/o ruining their own.

I'll take a crack at it. PMing my shipping info. 

[psjbeisler]

Thanks to everyone that provided feedback for my samples! Maybe I'll get some legitimate orders now. 

[psjbeisler]

New checks will have mini private keys. ...except i still have like 300 checks already made.

[Joshwaa]

I am starting to think these might be a really good Idea for like giving some one a bond. Fill one and give it to some one to hold onto say 10 years when hopefully BTC will be 20 or 30 USD each! Wishful thinking.
I might order some to do this with.. Thanks again for the check..  Are you able to load the one I have?

[psjbeisler]

I am starting to think these might be a really good Idea for like giving some one a bond. Fill one and give it to some one to hold onto say 10 years when hopefully BTC will be 20 or 30 USD each! Wishful thinking.
I might order some to do this with.. Thanks again for the check..  Are you able to load the one I have?

Just provide people with the firstbits from your check and they can fund it until you decide to redeem it.

[senbonzakura]

nice

[ccliu]

just got mine today, looks just like the one in the picture. The paper is thick and of good quality. I tried to get the private key without scratching the stuff off but you absolutely cannot see through it.

Overall it is pretty cool!

[enmaku]

Got the misprinted samples today and I can definitely say you might want to put a matching set of holographic stickers on the back, or perhaps print some kind of random pixels over that area in the back. I put the check on top of my phone's flash and at the lowest brightness setting I could almost make out the privkey. Cranked all the way up, I could read it clearly. Since this tends to be a "pics or it didn't happen" sort of crowd....


This is at the lowest setting.


This is at the highest setting


Here I've flipped the above image for those of you who can't read backwards


And just in case anyone couldn't read the portion of the key visible in the pic, I've crappily traced the visible characters in red.


Here I've copied the entire privkey down via the method above just to generate an address and make sure it matches what's on the check. The only character not easily discerned via the above method was the lowercase j, because it was on the border of the two stickers. Still, it didn't take but a few tries to guess that character right (two, actually, since the only other thing it looked like at all was an i)

Also keep in mind that this was just the two little surface mount LEDs. I can get a flashlight at 7-11 for $5 that has several times as many. It could also be feasible (though I don't have the equipment to test) to use a flatbed scanner with a lid-light (the kind used for scanning slides, transparencies and negatives) and a little photoshop magic to make this a 3-second process instead of sitting hunched over with a flashlight reading the key off one character at a time for several minutes.

Other than that, these are pretty fantastic little checks and thus far I've not found any other problems.

Peer review FTW  

[enmaku]

Just got a PM that new checks are being sent, so I'm guessing OP found a quick fix for the issue (either that or the misprinted samples I got were old and the problem was already fixed).

Updates will come as soon as I've got 'em!

[psjbeisler]

I got to mine with the LED flash on my phone... just in time for new ones.

I really shouldn't made as many as I did before getting any orders, specially when I knew they would be subject to change... 

[psjbeisler]

New checks are ready! Also merchants can get their logos added easily for a more custom experience.

(Valid firstbits will be printed on all released checks)

[swissmate]

Are you still giving some for free?
I would like to try them first and then buy some for professional use.

[psjbeisler]

Are you still giving some for free?
I would like to try them first and then buy some for professional use.

Since I have new checks, I very well might do new samples.

[swissmate]

Are you still giving some for free?
I would like to try them first and then buy some for professional use.

Since I have new checks, I very well might do new samples.

That would be very nice to try thanks

[Boussac]

I got my sample today, thanks. Only 5 days to cross the Atlantic via snail mail !
I aggree with enmaku: the "see through" weakness is serious and was clearly identified by Bitbills when they first came out. You want to double the metal hologram sticker with one on the back. I remember the Bitbills guy explaining how he had tested an electronic microscope in its "see through" capacity. Only a dual metal layer can mitigate the risk albeit not entirely.

[psjbeisler]

I got my sample today, thanks. Only 5 days to cross the Atlantic via snail mail !
I aggree with enmaku: the "see through" weakness is serious and was clearly identified by Bitbills when they first came out. You want to double the metal hologram sticker with one on the back. I remember the Bitbills guy explaining how he had tested an electronic microscope in its "see through" capacity. Only a dual metal layer can mitigate the risk albeit not entirely.

Right, I thought having a full key would cut down the risk, but not so much. Every check will now have stickers on the back as well. Right now I only have scratch off stickers, but the ones on the back will be replaced by standard non-scratch off holograms in due time.

The full key checks (R1s) will still be available, but by request only, Because nobody wants to type a key that long...