How would you like to design a bitcoin banknote?

[acoindr]

Great idea.  Casascius coins are awesome, but the minting premium is an issue for large scale use.

With bitcoin you are your own bank.  Now you can even withDRAW your own bitcash!


My .02BTC:

*If it has any colors, it should have BTC-orange on it in a fashion that looks good if printed in black and white.  I'm a big fan of the current standard logo and the "ubuntu" font, so these would be good.

*I think we should steer clear of putting people on it.  Even though we are talking about using scientists and engineers, the portrait theme has a government/central bank feel to it.  No portrait is simpler to print and fits with the "every-man" idea of bitcoin.

*Think outside the box, such as ShireSilver's idea below.  After all, we are re-inventing currency here!  If it wasn't for the size of govt cash, wallets could be a lot smaller.  I'm not necessarily against the full-size note, but that size does seem more fiat-fluff than utility.  

Why not make the checks credit card sized? More per sheet and you could fit more in a wallet - even put them in their own slot.

I agree 100% with everything except the size. I think the size should be the same as fiat bills. For one thing it will sell people on transitioning to their use (hey, paper bills... I recognize this!), and another is physical benefits of a standard size note. People can keep up with them better, for example, knowing the feeling of them still in their pocket etc. Smaller equals slightly easier to lose/locate, and then there is the unfounded but very real instinct that bigger always means higher value.

Remember credit card sized things are usually hard/rigid which helps handling, but these will likely be printed on regular paper (or otherwise be more of a pain to manufacture).

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[unclemantis]

Great idea.  Casascius coins are awesome, but the minting premium is an issue for large scale use.

With bitcoin you are your own bank.  Now you can even withDRAW your own bitcash!


My .02BTC:

*If it has any colors, it should have BTC-orange on it in a fashion that looks good if printed in black and white.  I'm a big fan of the current standard logo and the "ubuntu" font, so these would be good.

*I think we should steer clear of putting people on it.  Even though we are talking about using scientists and engineers, the portrait theme has a government/central bank feel to it.  No portrait is simpler to print and fits with the "every-man" idea of bitcoin.

*Think outside the box, such as ShireSilver's idea below.  After all, we are re-inventing currency here!  If it wasn't for the size of govt cash, wallets could be a lot smaller.  I'm not necessarily against the full-size note, but that size does seem more fiat-fluff than utility.  

Why not make the checks credit card sized? More per sheet and you could fit more in a wallet - even put them in their own slot.

I agree 100% with everything except the size. I think the size should be the same as fiat bills. For one thing it will sell people on transitioning to their use (hey, paper bills... I recognize this!), and another is physical benefits of a standard size note. People can keep up with them better, for example, knowing the feeling of them still in their pocket etc. Smaller equals slightly easier to lose/locate, and then there is the unfounded but very real instinct that bigger always means higher value.

So how much would a bitcoin banknote be worth if it was THIS BIG?

[BitPay Business Solutions]

Mike I will work on something for you.  I see what you want and I think it's a great idea.

[unclemantis]

Mike I will work on something for you.  I see what you want and I think it's a great idea.

I'm in too. Not looking for cash if this is something that will be openly given away!

[Mushroomized]

Could even go as far as selling advertising space on the these bills!

This is kind of sad. Imagine ads for mcdonalds on USD.

[Elwar]

I have always said that if I were to mint gold or silver coins for distribution I would just offer advertising on part of the coin to pay for the minting costs. That way, people could get the coins at the cost of the metal.

It would not work so well with this application as the paper is going to be thrown away and will not be widely circulated.

[gsan]

I was toying with the idea of using fractal backgrounds, for their scalability and as an allusion to Bitcoin's mathematical nature.



The design isn't finished, but if you like it I can work on it some more and produce a few templates of different sizes. Resolution isn't a problem but I'm wondering what else I can put on it and whether to add some fine print.

And here's a variation with a prominent mathematician:



Although it would be pretty hard to relate Khayyam to Bitcoin, I like how this illustration worked with the rest of the design. If there is interest, we might even commission an artist to draw us a Gavin that watches over the QR-code.

[Realpra]

I was toying with the idea of using fractal backgrounds, for their scalability and as an allusion to Bitcoin's mathematical nature.

Luv it!

The last one really looks like real money.

Further I think since you are printing this with a computer the number version should be used, not the empty field one. You would use a dedicated program to print a bunch of different denominations with the amounts pre-printed.


Could you make a version that's black and white and more simple to use less ink?

[Lethos]

Fractal designs could look very nice, their are both very simple and complex ones. Aswell as 2nd and 3d ones.
I've done them before in my design work.

[rxw]

I was toying with the idea of using fractal backgrounds, for their scalability and as an allusion to Bitcoin's mathematical nature.

https://i.imgur.com/JvsDg.jpg

The design isn't finished, but if you like it I can work on it some more and produce a few templates of different sizes. Resolution isn't a problem but I'm wondering what else I can put on it and whether to add some fine print.

And here's a variation with a prominent mathematician:

https://i.imgur.com/e6Sp1.jpg

Although it would be pretty hard to relate Khayyam to Bitcoin, I like how this illustration worked with the rest of the design. If there is interest, we might even commission an artist to draw us a Gavin that watches over the QR-code.

Those look great! I don't care for the idea of advertising on the bills mentioned previously, though. Seems tacky

[BrightAnarchist]

I suppose the concept of bills could work, but they'd all be spend-once only (because the acceptor would have to scan it, destroy the bill, and then transfer the coins over to themselves, to ensure you don't defraud them later).

If someone could make them spendable multiple times, that would be amazing, but I don't know how this is possible. Unless there was a trusted third party that could do a multi signature on the coins (so that, to redeem a bill, you need to sign it with both the bill's private key and the trusted third party's private key). In this way, the bill could be verified to have the correct balance, and also be spent many times before redemption.

However: what would prevent someone from simply duplicating the bill, spend it, and then redeem the copy? Or just spend the same bill mutiple times? So it still doesn't work... There must be a way though because damn, it would be awesome.

[casascius]

By nature they must be disposable.

They could be used by a merchant to return change (though any sane merchant will make their own bills for change-giving to take advantage of the advertising opportunity).  If used to return change, the change could be stolen by the merchant (or the clerk at the merchant etc) - ideally the amounts printed by users on bills would keep the change amounts low enough to make them not worth stealing.

Since the ideal use of bills requires printing lots of them to stay safe, the amount of ink used on each one is a serious consideration. On the other hand, I like that blue background. If it were SVG, the page hosting it could easily hide or display elements at will, so users could choose via a simple checkbox whether they wanted the beautiful (but ink-sipping) background versus the cheap.  And I am a big fan of the idea of using fractals as art here.

[ErebusBat]

Agreed, I like all of the options and DAMN that bill looks sexy.

[jim618]

I like the fractal backgrounds but, as they are single use, would like to see them in black and white.

Black and white printer cartridges are cheaper !

:-)

[Lethos]

I have a feeling if I ever went down this route, it would just end up as an extension of my business card.
A means to leave with someone a card, to invoice me, or send payments. Not necessarily a means to give payment there and then.

Pretty sure by the time it's gone mainstream enough, "there's an app for that", will be a more common thing rather than still using paper.

[ErebusBat]

Paper will still have valuable uses though....  Vouchers, gift cards, etc.

[BitPay Business Solutions]

Here's a start, with everything on one side

[casascius]

I don't recognize who this is, can you spoil?

[unclemantis]

I don't recognize who this is, can you spoil?

Leonardo DiVinchi I think

[unclemantis]

Would the private and public key need to be spelled out or are we just assuming that QR-Codes will be the norm.