Topic: Alternative format: what would you want as a physical wallet for your bitcoins? (Read 565 times)

I hadn't heard of Shire Silver before, that looks like a great option. I will probably order a few of them to see what they look like up close. I like the idea of encouraging people to make their own, but I am not sure that's a good idea for physical bitcoin wallets. It would need to be preloaded and tamper-proof.

What I am thinking about with bitcoin would be something like a business card size product (potentially combined with silver or gold) that has a tamper-proof seal that is polished and unique enough to be clearly distinguishable from a cheap knockoff from e-bay. A custom scratch-off ticket could work but I am not sure if it is durable enough for people to keep in their wallets for a long time without accidentally scratching off the decal.

Exactly. Use bitcoins when you can, and use Shire Silver cards for in-person non-digital transactions. 

The problems with the printed are...
1. Transactions can't be validated offline. Double spends would be possible.

The person receiving the coins should always be able to confirm the exchange. Meaning there is no connectionless approach they could take. If your talking just convenience for the consumer then sure they could walk around with the paper and just leave it up to the vendor to authorize.

As far as the consumer is concerned, what if you have 2 bills worth 0.25BTC but you are buying something worth 0.35BTC? The vendor would need to issue a credit and send the coins back to you. If the consumer is paying with offline bills they have no way to ensure that they received the credit.


2. They have fixed amounts.

As mentioned in the above situation you need to have the exact cost with you to carry around or vendors need to start offering credits.

3. It also puts you at higher risk to losing it. You don't physically need to steal the paper itself like cash, so a thief would only need to scan a barcode.

Nothing you can really do about this except be safe, and take same precautions you would with a regular wallet.



Basically there is no reliable way for 2 offline clients to make an exchange since the entire concept is based on authorizing against a public ledger. The next best solution is for a 3rd party to create certificates, sealed, and difficult to duplicate. Bitcoins would need to be escrowed by this 3rd party prior to releasing a certificate.

Honestly our lives would just be easier if we could go just with physical metal coins such as gold, silver, or likely an alloy of some kind with lower value... And use bitcoins for all transactions where connections are available. Small purchases could be made with physical coins or bitcoins, and large purchases should generally always require bitcoins. Unless you want to carry some silver bricks around when you want to buy a car.

Hi, I have been thinking of working on an alternative to Casascius' coins for a few years and I would appreciate any advice or comments on what people would want in a physical bitcoin wallet. For example, is there any interest in a pre-loaded paper wallets with tamper proof seals? Maybe a custom scratch-off ticket style wallet? Or, is there something uniquely appealing about a metal coin format that you would pay a bit extra for? Given the current exchange rate, what is the smallest amount you would pay for in a physical bitcoin wallet (e.g. 0.25BTC)?

I am unaware of any alternatives to Casascius' coins that were successful. I don't know what happened to Bitbills or Printcoins, but I am thinking there may still be room in the market for new projects. I am particularly interested in catering to people that may not have easy access to exchanges in their local currency. Thanks.