Topic: Digital Bitcoin Giftcards - page 2. (Read 578 times)

I have some thoughts on this too.
1. I surely hope that this is implemented in a way that by default the funds go back to original sender (and not the gift card app developer) after that period ends.
2. I would let the gift card funder decide whether the gift card expires or not (and the expire date, if any, has to be printed on the card). And I'll tell you why:
* if I want to give out money at some conference maybe I'll set up an expire date because I don't want my money be lost by people not interested to redeem it
* if I want to give it as a birthday present maybe I'll not set up any expire date because maybe my friend wants to keep it as a souvenir

Plus, it has to be stated clearly whether it's custodial or not (if it's custodial you may have trust problems and maybe also problems with financial institutions).


Sorry, I find the existing paper wallets (if generated properly, safely) and collectibles good enough for the job.
I mean that the recipient will have to install (and rather quick!) his own wallet, learn on his own to keep it safe (which is not gonna happen) and redeem that money. So one more level of complication.

But yeah, I may find easy the technical bits other don't gasp, so maybe my feedback is not that relevant or wrong. New projects - if made well (see my thoughts) - never hurt to be more.

My first thought: I think this is a terrible idea! If you want to give someone Bitcoin as a gift card, give them a paper wallet and explain to them how it works.

I have already disproven this statement. There's no need for KYC, and even better, downloading a wallet isn't a problem. I wish more people would actually do that instead of trusting third parties as if they're buying stock.
What's the point of giving someone Bitcoin if they can't install a wallet to use it?

From what I've seen, most people install far too many apps. As a Bitcoin user, I install as little untrusted software as possible.
It's easy to install an established wallet though. Electrum for instance.

This is less bad than my initial assumption, but why would I use a new service for this, if I can already choose from many different established wallets?

This site looks really nice. Don't get discouraged by "my first thought", I can imagine there's an audience for this.

How does it work on a technical level if this is custodial?
I've seen custodial Bitcoin "certificates" that expired after many years, it lead to quite some drama on the Collectibles board, and apparently it was according to the Terms of the service. The site closed, and people lost "their" Bitcoin.

There are many debit cards you can currently use with doing verification so I won't post any links for them, but one project exist without kyc called Coindebit.io, they are currently on hold and transitioning from beta to full phase release in next few months.

Ask them how and why they would benefit from this, not me.
If they can earn money from regular giftcards while scamming people, than they can do exactly the same thing with Bitcoin giftcards.
Better be ready for that and think of the ways how you would protect from this attacks.

Those seem really cool since they give you exposure to btc price, but allow you to spend like visa. I agree with you about how useful they would be for gifting.

I believe he's referring to these cards? https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/--5280997

Although I'm not sure how can these cards be of any good when it's not something you can constantly get and it also requires identity verification.

Do you have a link to this product? I cant find any debit cards that can be loaded with bitcoin.

I am not sure I understand how scammers would benefit from a website that lets you give bitcoin to other people.

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I also have a working(ish) demo, https://giftmonero.app/,  that I have built for gifting monero if that is something more concrete to help visualize how this would work for bitcoin. I was hesitant to post if before because this is a bitcoin development, but I think it would help with the technical demonstration.

[moderator's note: consecutive posts merged]

I can always print and give them paper wallet with easy instructions how to use Bitcoin correctly.
It's not so important to give a 'fish'' to someone and fill his hunger, teach him to fish and he will feed himself for life... same goes for Bitcoin.
If I wanted to give Bitcoin to someone for long term storage I wouldn't tell them how to spend it so quickly, otherwise I would probably give them some debit card with Bitcoin loaded and ready for spending.

You do realize that one of the most profitable scam business in the world is fake tech support guys calling random people around the world and dealing with gift card scams?!
I am not saying this will happen with Giftbitcoin, but Bitcoin does attract a lot of scammers already.

Here is just a few examples with Kitboga and Scammer Payback:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7V0Oda3DAA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1Y2uW52-AA

Thanks for checking out the site @dkbit98. Its just a mockup that I spun up to gauges interest.

What kind of outcomes are you seeing when you gift bitcoin this way? When I suggest doing it this way , people don't have the motivation to for small amounts of btc. When they do get over installing the wallet, I have to walk them through what it is, and where they can spend it. Do you have a more streamlined way of going about this process of gifting?


The code would all be local browser based that reaches out to public api's for chain data. I could piggyback of large website host like GitHub, so I don't think DDOS would be and issue. Since its all local browser based, the creator and gift receiver would control the keys. As far has hacking goes, the small amounts involved in gifting would be the same risk profile as spending btc with online websites so I don't think that is a major concern my customers will have when sending small amounts to friends and family. 

 
I plan to make some percentage of the giftcards, swap services built in for the gift receiver. Its digital only so the cost to run is low.

Thanks again for taking the time to check everything out!

I am against asking people to complete any verification to receive bitcoin, but downloading a wallet takes only a few minutes and it's not that hard to accept coins after doing that.
There are also some web wallets, but I am not recommending to anyone, to avoid scam and phishing attacks.

I visited your website but nothing works there and nothing is happening when I click on all buttons and menus, so I guess it's just a mockup.
This is web wallet app, so what happens if you get ddos attacks and your website goes down, or get hacked are replaced with some malicious version?
Who is holding the keys for bitcoin and information for gift cards??

I would prefer to see code being released as open source or source viewable, otherwise nobody would know what is happening behind the scenes.
There is a market for Bitcoin gift card, but I am not sure how this would be profitable for you, and would you charge some percentage fees or not?

I was thinking that asking someone to download an app adds a considerable amount of friction to the process, but I could be wrong about that assumption. Oh yeah it would be open-source, I would not do bitcoin any other way.

I'm not aware of any other "apps" but there are multiple ways to gift bitcoin:

- OpenDime.
- Ask the receiver to set up a wallet and send him the bitcoin.
- Print a paper wallet, and hand it to the person.

I like the idea, but are you planning on making this open-source though? I guess not? since it you're going to be adding swapping, amazon gift cards, and other stuff.

Hi, Bitcoiners I am working a new way to gift bitcoin to no-coiners. I have come up with a landing page so far: https://www.giftbitcoin.app/

Problem:
The current ways to gift bitcoin are not great. They either require kyc or the gift recipient to download a wallet.

Solution:
I am prototyping a web app that lets a gifter load btc into a local-browser based wallet and send the gift recipient a digital giftcard that lets them then redeem the bitcoin. They would then be able to setup a wallet (if they wish) , buy an amazon giftcard, swap for another crypto etc. It would be a browser based wallet so I will be able to walk the user through whatever they choose to do with the btc with the gui.

My goal is to be the easiest way to gift btc without app download or kyc causing friction in the process.

How You Can Help:
 I have done research into past examples of non-custodial bitcoin gifting apps, but I wasn't able to find any. If y'all know of any I would love to hear about them. I would also love to hear any feedback, questions, or concerns about my idea that you have. Thank you for taking the time to read my project announcement.