Topic: Casascius Bitcoin POS system (Read 10061 times)

Hi Casascius,

I have some questions about this project. For some reason I can't send you a PM, apparently after 4 years I'm still a "Newbie".
Can you send me a PM.


Regards,

Bruru

Exactly what I have been looking for, as I prefer Litecoin.  Thx !

yes, coinkite has Bitcoin terminals (Litecoin and Darkcoin also accepted) and great service as well.

Yeah, just checked in to coinkite.  Wonderful idea!  Great execution.  I watched the videos on the website, and it is awesome!

I would recommend coinkite over this tbh. Also, necro post much..

Interested in buying one of these.  Is there any updates?  Is there a website that is official for this product?

A new system? I think we will also need new money (sound money, please).

I'm guessing that your working on the sweep private key function. I'm starting to like this cash card idea given that we may soon see a global financial reset. We'll need a new system that's ready to go.

How's this going?

I could see this going somewhere, as I made this: https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.644784.

The problem with RFID tags you can't just say, no you can't read my card now. It can always be read unless you like sticking a sheet of metal in pocket or wallet.

I'm not sure if this is still going, but I'd be willing to help with this, not rage and be a dick like someone in this thread.

Mathew,  I want to let you know I really appreciate the difference in tone between your first post to this thread (#40) and your most recent post (#94).  I think you have a lot to contribute and look forward to hearing more from you here and in other threads.

Casascius, just wondering on the status of this project?  I am very excited by the idea but I can see the github code hasn't been updated for a couple of weeks.

Will you be continuing development or are you looking for others to run with this?  I think if we have even the most simplest of functionality, display QR code and notify when payment received, then we can start carrying these devices into shops and say "hey wanna save some money, let me plug this in and show you how".

I cant really assist with C programming, but potentially can help out with the backend server / communications.

Would a bounty for this project encourage development? To get the ball rolling, I can pledge 10btc for a working end-to-end solution

You just lease it for $10 a month. Everyone would be happy.

Nope, the bitcoins wouldn't have to be in the smartphone.  For example you could just be initiating a withdrawal from MtGox or some other website.  The system would see the incoming transaction regardless of where the coins came from.

@casascius I have a question for you. Would I, as the customer, have to upload bitcoins to a wallet located on my smartphone to use your system?

Ultimately the consumer foots the bill.  As a seasoned businessman, I'm sure you understand that.

The merchant buys the terminal and also gets charged fees by the backend, that's how the developers get paid.  Sort of how Visa and Mastercard already do this.  The merchant charges for that convenience in the price of their products as a cost of doing business - as they do now for Visa and Mastercard - only it costs a lot less over the long run.  And when they sell bitcoins with their terminal, it's a profit opportunity to them, just like when they sell money orders or gift cards or lottery tickets.

A plastic card made in bulk easily costs less than a dime, cheap enough to be an inconsequential freebie, like the napkins available with every hot dog.


I'm not sure there's a political issue in the first place.  This thread is titled "Casascius Bitcoin POS system", the only person complaining that it's a waste of my time (as though I'm accountable to someone) is you.  I gather that most of us are wondering WTF is wrong with you.  You're worried about letting your guard down for a little spittle, you seem the only one unaware that you're already soaked chin deep in sewage of your own making.  Stop being such an asshole.  You're a smart kid in many respects, but clearly don't understand that you have to choose between the liberty of being a complete douche, or having your opinion respected, you cannot have both.  Clearly a seasoned businessman as yourself understands how this concept applies in person.  It's not too late to change, of course.

What are you talking about?  Seeing as how I'm in the business, I have probably bought more plastic cards in my lifetime than minutes you have been alive, so I probably understand, and probably don't agree with you.  If you're going to respond, why not just answer the question?

How did you determine that these technologies are archaic, or that this project constitutes "hacking" the device as you have called it earlier?  Seems to me I have seen a dozen banner ads offering credit card processing showing the Vx570 terminal just in the last couple days.  I also saw the Vx570 terminal on the desktop when I picked up tacos for lunch.  I got an ad for a company running a $209 special on the Vx570 today, refurbished.  They obviously don't compare to, say, the graphical capabilities of an XBOX 360, but they do a pretty good job of what they were made for.

You say the question really comes down to security... when the Vx570 offers an available customer smartcard reader (along with 3 hidden smartcard slots where per-merchant encryption keys can be installed) as well as physically guarded tamper-proof memory (open the case and the encryption keys vanish)... what alternative do you have in mind that does a better, more secure job, at a better price?

Matthew N. Wright is a classic example of a geek with high level technical knowledge but non-existent social skills. The approach he uses will always cause conflict. I have a lot of experience of this from a social perspective. Respectful communication is the key to working together in any useful way, take that away and it doesn't matter one bit if his points are actually valid or not. People will not listen.

But I have to say that to me Matthew's counter to this system, if I understand it correctly, is actually worse in some ways than what Casascius is proposing. One of the main reasons that Bitcoin was created in the first place and why majority of Bitcoin users use it today is that it's a decentralized system. What Matthew is proposing requires an exchange/e-wallet to handle the transactions, which I think is totally unacceptable.

He talks about reinventing the wheel, which is funny because with Mt. Gox backing all the POS transactions we end up with a very similar setup compared to other payment methods, which include massive centralization. If this is the approach to bring Bitcoin to the mainstream, we will eventually have nothing to use for marketing that'll actually differentiate it from competing payment methods.

Even a Bit-Pay type POS payment system can be done without it requiring anything else than a functioning Internet connection and the only thing one has to rely on is the Bitcoin network. The traffic between the merchants POS system and the "Bit-Pay" servers can happen in scheduled batches, like once every hour. Bit-Pay takes the currency risk of one hour at most in that case. Unless the Bit-Pay servers are down, in which case the POS system would try again until it works. That would increase Bit-Pay's currency risk but it's their problem so it's ok.

Now correct me if I'm wrong with this. I'm trying to understand how deliberately creating a more centralized system will somehow help Bitcoin.

Congratulations for making it into the news :)
Looks like they think it's a new "official" firmware.

http://moneynews.ru/News/15648/