Spreading bitcoin to the masses

[wb3]

What would be very interesting, is to Stamp the QR Code for .10 BTC with a redemption site below it.  It would be like through away $200 dollars but with increase demand, what you have already invested becomes more valuable. PUMP IT UP

[InstantBTC]

Someone going to film this for youtube ?

Flashmob ftw.

The money falling would have been filmed yes, other than possible news coverage, that would have been the proof that the deed had been done.

[marcus_of_augustus]

If you want to create some excitement have a plant or two in the crowd to shout

"Hey, I just found a 100 bucks!"

at some point after the windfall begins and then watch the mayhem ... that might be bordering on disrupting the peace or some such though ...

[Herodes]

I read the part about being illegal to "tamper" with dollar bills. What if the tampering were done in such a way that it was easily reversible? For instance having the bills wrapped in plastic with bitcoin signs on it, or having stickers on them that will be possible to rip of the bills wihout damage? That's should not be illegal?

[Astro]

I read the part about being illegal to "tamper" with dollar bills. What if the tampering were done in such a way that it was easily reversible? For instance having the bills wrapped in plastic with bitcoin signs on it, or having stickers on them that will be possible to rip of the bills wihout damage? That's should not be illegal?

Writing on them, or stamping them, is not illegal.

[InstantBTC]

I read the part about being illegal to "tamper" with dollar bills. What if the tampering were done in such a way that it was easily reversible? For instance having the bills wrapped in plastic with bitcoin signs on it, or having stickers on them that will be possible to rip of the bills wihout damage? That's should not be illegal?

This post inspired me to keep working on this project. But using a sticker would be better I think.

[InstantBTC]

I read the part about being illegal to "tamper" with dollar bills. What if the tampering were done in such a way that it was easily reversible? For instance having the bills wrapped in plastic with bitcoin signs on it, or having stickers on them that will be possible to rip of the bills wihout damage? That's should not be illegal?

Writing on them, or stamping them, is not illegal.

What is your evidence?

[InstantBTC]

What would be very interesting, is to Stamp the QR Code for .10 BTC with a redemption site below it.  It would be like through away $200 dollars but with increase demand, what you have already invested becomes more valuable. PUMP IT UP

Most people don't know what a QR code is yet, I think this would waist a lot of coins, between the people who don't bother redeeming them, the people who don't even know what to do with the QR code, so on so forth.

[Anonymous]

Someone get qr code stickers with bitcoin addresses embedded in them or a code to redeem bitcoins at some site.

A physical version of the bitcoin faucet

[Ian Maxwell]

EDIT: I see wb3 just beat me to this idea.

If you're handing out marked dollars, here's an idea: hand out bitcoins at the same time.

That is, stamp the notes with a statement that they can be redeemed for 0.1 bitcoins---or some other amount, I don't know. It should probably be somewhere around 2/3 of a dollar's worth at the time you do this. Get weusecoins.org to put up a section on "Redeeming your bitcoin-backed dollar," which will probably involve sending it in to them or to some other redemption agency you've set up.

Hmm... what could the stamp say? It needs to be simple but pithy. Something like:
"Redeemable for 0.1 bitcoins -- weusecoins.com"

Or:
"Backed by Bitcoin -- weusecoins.com"
and only mention the amount on the website.

The great thing about this is that it gives the recipients a very easy way to get a small but predictable amount of BTC. Admittedly it's an expensive way, but maybe they'll hold onto that dollar and check the exchange rate again a month or two later, and find that buying bitcoins with it is a good idea after all.

The not so great thing is that an unscrupulous person could try to imitate the stamp and get some cheap bitcoins, once the exchange rate improves. This could be somewhat mitigated by keeping a record of the serial numbers of all bills stamped in this way.

[NghtRppr]

If you're handing out marked dollars, here's an idea: hand out bitcoins at the same time.

Here's how I did it. I hid random codes under a scratchoff and handed them out.



It was for the event mentioned in this http://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=6202.msg90943#msg90943 thread.

[InstantBTC]

If you're handing out marked dollars, here's an idea: hand out bitcoins at the same time.

Here's how I did it. I hid random codes under a scratchoff and handed them out.



It was for the event mentioned in this http://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=6202.msg90943#msg90943 thread.

That is a bit of a change of game plan but it could definitely work, but people who have been a miner since the beginning would probably have to fund the project seeing as to make that worthwhile it would put anybody who buys the coins into bankruptcy.

[Ian Maxwell]

bitcoin2cash, that's great! How much did these cost to make? (It looks like they're just business cards with scratch-off stickers applied, so maybe not too much.) Did you include any explanations or anything on the reverse?

I think this event could use something similar, but 0.1 bitcoins---or maybe a mix of 0.01 and 0.1---would be more reasonable than 1 at this point. The smaller the denomination, the more cards can be handed out.

[NghtRppr]

bitcoin2cash, that's great! How much did these cost to make? (It looks like they're just business cards with scratch-off stickers applied, so maybe not too much.) Did you include any explanations or anything on the reverse?

I think this event could use something similar, but 0.1 bitcoins---or maybe a mix of 0.01 and 0.1---would be more reasonable than 1 at this point. The smaller the denomination, the more cards can be handed out.

If I remember my calculations, they were something like 18 cents each to make, not counting the ink and my time. The backs are blank.

[Ian Maxwell]

Hm... by my calculations, I ought to be able to produce a batch of 1000 cards for $128, so about 12-13 cents apiece. Maybe I'm underestimating the cost of ink, though.

In fact, if we do want to have a mass bitcoin giveaway, I'd be happy to design and manufacture the scratch-off cards and sell them to the "money-givers" at face value. (I'll also accept donations to defray the printing costs, if I do this.) I think they ought to have a quick explanation on the reverse, at least.

[InstantBTC]

Hm... by my calculations, I ought to be able to produce a batch of 1000 cards for $128, so about 12-13 cents apiece. Maybe I'm underestimating the cost of ink, though.

In fact, if we do want to have a mass bitcoin giveaway, I'd be happy to design and manufacture the scratch-off cards and sell them to the "money-givers" at face value. (I'll also accept donations to defray the printing costs, if I do this.) I think they ought to have a quick explanation on the reverse, at least.

I like this idea, and after doing the math, it is actually more economical than throwing money is. At the current market value ($7usd/btc) $700=100 btc, which equates to 1000 cards with each card containing 0.10 bitcoins. Which means that each card costs $0.13+$0.70=$0.83 per card AKA per person we give them out to, factoring in shipping costs it will probably cost $0.85 per card, PLUS this way we would be controlling the amount each person receives instead of the people who horde as many dollars as they can. We can give this a trial run of 1000 cards in each city (LA, Chicago, New york). Which means that we will need 300 bitcoins to cover the cost of the value of each card, another 15-20 to cover the cost of the starting supplies and shipping. So at the moment our donation goal is 320 bitcoins.

A idea that occurred to me while typing the above, we can have businesses that accept bitcoins (that we would want to be something that a first time bitcoiner to see) "sponsor" a number of cards to have their URLs on the card somewhere saying something like "This card was sponsored by : http://bitcoin.org". That will probably help cover a portion of the costs.

SunAvatar do you think you could work up a example card? Or really anybody work up a really nice design that we can use for this? Things that we will want included are...
A catchy phrase.
WeUseCoins.org
and probably some other required things but I'm very tired right now and I'm going to just copy and paste this into the OP for now, then make it look pretty later.

I will make this the "official" game plan for now as it is the best idea yet. Donations are more than welcomed now.

[cuddlefish]

A idea that occurred to me while typing the above, we can have businesses that accept bitcoins (that we would want to be something that a first time bitcoiner to see) "sponsor" a number of cards to have their URLs on the card somewhere saying something like "This card was sponsored by : http://bitcoin.org". That will probably help cover a portion of the costs.

Yep. I'll give you 10 BTC to print the following text on the back of each card:

"Need more Bitcoins? Go to Ubitex.org." (By that time I'll have the login page up so it won't be nearly so hard)

[InstantBTC]

A idea that occurred to me while typing the above, we can have businesses that accept bitcoins (that we would want to be something that a first time bitcoiner to see) "sponsor" a number of cards to have their URLs on the card somewhere saying something like "This card was sponsored by : http://bitcoin.org". That will probably help cover a portion of the costs.

Yep. I'll give you 10 BTC to print the following text on the back of each card:

"Need more Bitcoins? Go to Ubitex.org." (By that time I'll have the login page up so it won't be nearly so hard)

10 BTC would have it printed on the back of 100 cards. Your basically "paying" for the card to be made.

[cuddlefish]

A idea that occurred to me while typing the above, we can have businesses that accept bitcoins (that we would want to be something that a first time bitcoiner to see) "sponsor" a number of cards to have their URLs on the card somewhere saying something like "This card was sponsored by : http://bitcoin.org". That will probably help cover a portion of the costs.

Yep. I'll give you 10 BTC to print the following text on the back of each card:

"Need more Bitcoins? Go to Ubitex.org." (By that time I'll have the login page up so it won't be nearly so hard)

10 BTC would have it printed on the back of 100 cards. Your basically "paying" for the card to be made.

Yes, exactly.

[lacedwithkerosene]

Think this should be done at a college and not at a mall. Mall crowds will be more diverse but I can't see most shoppers caring enough to look it up on google, and we don't really need an influx of confused junior high students who will flood the forums and suck it up.

With college kids you get people who are naturally on their laptops often and don't mind satisfying their curiosity while procrastinating. Aim for the Apple crowd. Aim for hipsters who might trend us and blog us. They could be the next demographic to join in. Too early for most everyone else. Need name recognition so the ball gets rolling.

For people to really care though, the community needs to have more buying options and better looking, more advanced sites. Most everything looks underdeveloped, in beta.  It would have been easier back in the day when angelfire and geocities were acceptable. Now that quality is like playing tennis with a wooden racket.