Topic: I came up with an idea... (Read 681 times)

Sorry for being dense, I got it. However you would have to have proof and tust in the issuer of the Physical container. Casacius could make a ton of coins with the same public address with the same Bitcoin. He would have to keep a list of issued coins and have a serial numbering system.

He would be the issuer of a container, but the value of each coin is stored in the blockchain. FinCen have their work cut out for them!

It's like the tricks of the internet used for separating the provider of copyrighted content  from the public linker to that material.

In that sense, Bitcoin itself is an abstraction between value and a virtual object. Bitcoin is nothing more or less than an idea that actually existed before the internet:

The two most tradeable human assets, excluding manual labor, is information and brain power and both can be exchanged where a medium for information exchange exists. This is also a system of accounting and transfer of wealth, there are however limits to how much of each you can hold.

From nature we have been issued one brain each and it's very tradeable. So as long as information sharing is not outlawed these human traits can be traded and cashed out for $$ if needed.

So Bitcoin is in reality very old and just a formalization in software of the value of social group survival: "you tell me about that, I figure this out for you" and we both get "payed" in better survival chances. Peer nodes, crypto and wallets all have social counterparts in human interaction, so as long as speech is free, transactions can be made in something that isn't really money, without giving government a chance to intervene.  However you can't go to spain and whisper some stranger in the ear that you want to buy his house with this "inside tip" or maybe you can, if he is connected to the same social group as you.

If you ask any trader, he can tell you that there are the money going around but there is also the network of exchanged tips which are payed with other tips or clever peoples suggestions interpreting them. An economist doing work might prefer being payed with an untaxable, untraceable tip instead of money.

Yes, that's my point. They've done basically that, and people use the physical coin as money.

It's not a technical question. I'm asking if one could make a physical Bitcoin that did not have any usability in the network, but still contained a provable value denominated in Bitcoins and still would be considered valuable for trades and other uses?

I you think about it, this could be a very desirable property.

Ask Casascius.

So if you load up a physical coin and throw away the key audited by trusted parties, would the physical coin then be considered valuable and usable for payment?

No reason both things can't coexist. Bitcoin debit card for your hot wallet, smexy shiny "coin" case for your cold storage.

I'd much rather have a Bitcoin debit card than to be carrying a physical bitcoin around everywhere I go.

Sounds like an interesting idea.

Yeah, the private key presents a problem. But you don't have to trust the person- just plug the address in on blockchain to confirm.

Basically like a Bitcoin debit card but a coin instead? That would be passed on from multiple people? It wouldn't work because multiple people would see the private keys, unless there was a thing to peel and place a new hidden key at. But then you would still be going off the last persons trust.

https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/bitcoin-poker-chip-physical-coin-77141

Notice I said the exact same thing
What I was talking about was something like...a reusable coin actually made by Casascius

I believe they call that a "paper wallet"

But yeah, having a Casascius-quality paper wallet holder would be pretty cool.

wouldn't it be cool to have a reusable physical bitcoin? I know how to make one myself, but I'm talking one on the level of Casascius coins. The only problem I can think of is that users would have to have access to the private key (so they could redeem multiple times). Does this sound like a good idea to anyone else? Casascius coins are valuable as collector's items-maybe some people collect used coins, but most people wouldn't spend money on a redeemed coin-they would want the hologram (bitcoin) in tact. Something like a reusable coin would solve this problem. Only 2 issues-access to the private key, as mentioned, and getting the coin to the level of Casascius coins in terms of hype (probably not an easy task lol).