The BitPiece is a new physical bitcoin that stores a quarter of one bitcoin in a safe and aesthetically appealing manner. A big thank you to bigtimespaghetti for making this coin possible! The coin and hologram design was a joint effort between bigtimespaghetti and myself. It is through him that I am bringing a coin with such a beautiful design! Another big thank you goes out to the community for supporting me thus far!
Coin SpecsMaterial: Brass
Diameter: 29mm
Thickness: 2mm
Face value: 0.25BTC
Mintage:
Brass w/o plating: 100 (numbered 001-100)
Brass w/ silver plating: 10 (numbered 01-10)
Brass w/ gold plating: 5 (numbered 1-5)
Note that there are only 5 coins with gold plating, so there will only be 5 full sets available (i.e. 1 of each type with corresponding numbers)
Keys and key generationThe coin features a custom security anti-counterfeit hologram that secures the private key. Private keys were generated with the serpcoin software (
https://github.com/jondale/serpcoin) which was modified in various ways in order to fit the coin and coin requirements. The exact code I used will be uploaded as an attachment. The private key generation was done on a fresh ubuntu install. It was done as follows:
-The serpcoin software prerequisits were installed and the software was downloaded
-Some of the scripts were modified as follows (not exactly in this order):
--removed the label section of the front part of the key entirely
--inverted the colours of the text and background of the first address characters
--added several iterations of the first address characters, one below the next (the character string may be replaced with the string "EMPTY!!!")
--removed the coin name and numbering from the label
--removed the private key in mini private key format along with the coin name and label entirely
--the config was changed to fit the size of the coin ****
-labels were then generated offline
-labels were printed on a dumb offline printer
-I ran the scrub.sh script
-Private keys are cut and are safely stored waiting for assembly.
-The fresh install of ubuntu was then destroyed.
No private keys or private key information was stored.
The modified software leaves a label with several iterations of the first characters of the address on the front and a QR code of the private key in Base58 Wallet Import format on the back. (i.e. Private keys start with the number 5)
Note that the files MiniKey.py, scCopyAddress.php, run.sh and scrub.sh was not modified in any way.
Pricing:Prices for each type of coin (Please check the reservation list for availability):
Brass w/o plating:
0.085
BTC for one,
0.08
BTC for 15 coins or more,
0.075
BTC for 25 coins or more
Brass w/ silver plating:
0.135
BTC for one
Brass w/ gold plating:
N/A (None of these types of coins will be directly for sale)
Coins are shipped in an airtight and a small plastic bag.
Please note that prices for all coins are static! Spikes and crashes will not affect the price.
Funded and unfunded coins All coins will either be funded or unfunded.
Funded coinsFunded coins will have will the first 6-8 characters displayed through the hologram window. To purchase a funded coin, please let me know that you would like your coin to be funded and send over the funding amount with along with the cost per coin as stated above. The full amount including funded will need to be received (or escrowed) or the coin will not be shipped. Coins will be funded after you receive them.
A signed list of addresses for funding will be posted. To avoid any ambiguity that might be present in the first few characters of an address, I've written a java program that checks the first n characters of a list of addresses that would be generated by the serpcoin generator. The addresses I am using for funding all have unique first four characters. The program runs solely on the output file 'addr.sav' created by the serpcoin key generator.
Unfunded coinsUnfunded coins will have the text "EMPTY!!!" displaying through the window
of the hologram. Should you wish to fund your coin at some point, I will have a separate PGP signed list of the address corresponding to each coin via it's coin number. This will be updated as coins are assembled.
ShippingShipping will be done on a case-by-case basis. All shipping orders will have tracking.
To help get things started with shipping, I have contacted Mitchell and minerjones to help. There will be an group buy for all initial orders ('initial orders' is used loosely). The way this will proceed is as follows:
-You can make your reservations (and orders when they open)
-Place your order/reservation into the group buy which will be opened by Mitchell
-I will ship all coins from the group buy to Mitchell
-Mitchell will then ship all US orders to minerjones, who will then handle the reshipping. It is unconfirmed where non-US and non-EU orders will go, but it will be finalized before sales begin.
There might be some minor changes to the logistics of this, but it will be ironed out before sales and shipping begins.
The reason for the initial group buy was to allow for a cheaper price per coin (I recommend buying them through group buys all the time, so you can get the best possible price) and to cater for funded coins going to the US. After the group buy I will have coins go directly to the US but I am yet to decide how I will go about doing this. I will post an update when I decide what is feasible.
Disclaimers and extras-No refunds.
-If you are unsatisfied with the purchase, please contact me directly.
-When placing an order, please let me know if you would like your coin(s) to be funded or unfunded. Once you have paid, the purchase and it's funding state is final.
-As with any coin batch, some of the coins have fine hairline scratches. This is inevitable with many coins. I have noticed that some coins out of the batch have significantly worse scratching or other defects. These coins will not be sold, but either discarded or free raffled or similar. Other coins with a noticeable amount of scratching will be listed as such.
-Also note that the gold plating looks fairly similar to the brass coin without plating. However, the difference between the coins is easier to see when placed side by side.
To avoid scammers, pay to only this address if you order through me:
19GFXUea9mFGeTiWpGaQWFiazuH3koCnsZ