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Topic: Is the world ready to embrace physical bitcoin? (Read 539 times)

hero member
Activity: 2548
Merit: 607
The primary purpose of physical bitcoin would be a numismatic collectible not to use as you would paper or coin fiat- same way someone would not spend a proof US Mint coin, and in the case of a situation that required glass to be broken, you could always peel the coin to retrieve the private key and use whatever the amount of bitcoin present if needed.
legendary
Activity: 3220
Merit: 1363
www.Crypto.Games: Multiple coins, multiple games
To those that insist that "physical" bitcoins have no use, I want to point out the interesting fact that most of the paper USD in the world is used by people outside of the U.S.

Don't forget that many people in the world have limited access to banks and telecommunications. For them, no electronic form of currency is available and they must rely primarily on paper money or perhaps "physical" bitcoins.

You'd still need Internet access to spend the physical Bitcoin anyways. Otherwise, it's purpose would be futile. I don't see how off-chain transactions will work without ever getting settled on the Blockchain. At some point, the person needs to redeem the private key or seed to redeem his/her funds. There's no other way around it.

Using a physical Bitcoin is like going back to the era of paper money. Although the latter still exists, it's usage is diminishing by the day. You can say goodbye to paper money for good once government-issued digital currencies are launched for public use. When that time comes, physical Bitcoins will only be considered as collectibles not as a tool you can use for day-to-day payments. No one knows what will happen in the future so we can only hope for the best. Just my opinion Smiley
legendary
Activity: 4466
Merit: 3391
"A total of 5 billion people around the world use the internet today – equivalent to 63 percent of the world’s total population.

That leaves 37 percent of the world who have no choice but to use physical money.
hero member
Activity: 952
Merit: 779
for some reason, if you have to go back to physical coins, you want physical bitcoins or something. then I feel awkward. and as if going back to before there were cryptocurrencies, especially bitcoin. so it will be the same as using gold and silver coins. I myself do not really understand transacting with physical bitcoin. because of how to do it. whether like ordinary money coins. or must be scanned first with a special tool. ah i feel stupid about this. because instead think with the production of physical bitcoin then there will be a central that produces it. whether it will go against decentralization. maybe if the physical bitcoin contains a private key in which bitcoin. and saved for hodl then maybe it could just be acceptable. sorry i will read more about this. and find out more. because I just found out about this. and I think this is what I need to know to increase my knowledge about bitcoin and everything related to it.
sr. member
Activity: 812
Merit: 272
I do not think I can actually support this particular development because I see it as a backwards growth. If there is no other reason for the loss of value of the fiat physical currency – it is for the fact that it was made physical and people were given the access to have it in large quantities without any significant thing happening to the actual value.

Unlike the digital Bitcoin, where it increases and drops, thereby commanding value to itself.
We are in a digitalized world already, making Bitcoin physically simply just does not tally.
legendary
Activity: 2590
Merit: 1236
We're actually ready for both, physical and digital. We're from physical so that's not really a question anymore.

Knowing that we're on the digital age and that's what bitcoin is, having a physical coin that's pre funded is just going to be like a cold storage for someone who wants to keep it for long.

It will serve just like a memorabilia.
I think it's better to just mint a metallic bitcoin and treat it as memorabilia. Using physical bitcoin is against the trend of the times, we move towards a digital world and gradually get rid of things that are too cumbersome and take up our space. Furthermore, using physical bitcoin is no different from using a centralized asset controlled by the government, this is a bad idea. I would rather use cash, gold than use physical bitcoin.

I was just about to write the same! What's the point of physical Bitcoin besides to have some memorabilia for people that like to collect it? Bitcoin was invented as a digital asset and it should stay that way.
legendary
Activity: 1974
Merit: 1108
Free Free Palestine
We're actually ready for both, physical and digital. We're from physical so that's not really a question anymore.

Knowing that we're on the digital age and that's what bitcoin is, having a physical coin that's pre funded is just going to be like a cold storage for someone who wants to keep it for long.

It will serve just like a memorabilia.
I think it's better to just mint a metallic bitcoin and treat it as memorabilia. Using physical bitcoin is against the trend of the times, we move towards a digital world and gradually get rid of things that are too cumbersome and take up our space. Furthermore, using physical bitcoin is no different from using a centralized asset controlled by the government, this is a bad idea. I would rather use cash, gold than use physical bitcoin.
copper member
Activity: 2268
Merit: 539
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I don’t get why people are so eager to get Bitcoins into physical form?
I mean what is the need of the physical version when you have this awesome digital one.
If also somehow BTC are developed physically, then there will be no difference between gold and Bitcoins.
Moreover the Bitcoins anonymity and decentralised nature will become useless if we switch to physical version.
According to me Bitcoins physical version will be nothing more than useless thing.
jr. member
Activity: 112
Merit: 1
 bitcoin is exist here because of it's non physical nature. you can buy physical bitcoins on shopping market as i know. bitcoin is on blockchain mate. bitcoin exist because of blockchain technology. physical things cannot transfer through blockchain i know. no way to happen this
full member
Activity: 2170
Merit: 182
“FRX: Ferocious Alpha”
personally ? what is the sense of letting Bitcoin to be In physical form when it was originated and being popular in its form? 

Why need to let it become physical when we learn to understand and circulate this while it is in electronic form .

So I am not supporting this to be a legit call, but will continues to support the original bitcoin form and this is what it must be for all the years to come.
legendary
Activity: 3234
Merit: 1214
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To those that insist that "physical" bitcoins have no use, I want to point out the interesting fact that most of the paper USD in the world is used by people outside of the U.S.

Don't forget that many people in the world have limited access to banks and telecommunications. For them, no electronic form of currency is available and they must rely primarily on paper money or perhaps "physical" bitcoins.

For the people who are isolated from the rest of the world in terms of telecommunications can make use of the physical bitcoins. However this percentage of the population is very small compared to the rest of the population who are well connected. Even the villages that doesn't have access to internet are now getting connected. More funding too is done by the world bank for the cause. So, rather than thinking of physical bitcoins it is good to educate and develop infrastructure.
hero member
Activity: 966
Merit: 588
But what if the world suddenly change and opt to in physical form, are we ready to embrace it?
I totally did not buy the idea, This is just like sending someone who is already in heaven to move from heaven to hell fire.
Bitcoin is save heaven meant to solve the problem facing the current monetary system which involves continuous printing of money, Therefore Bitcoin going physical means you have to print Bitcoin and thus destroy the purpose of creation. What we should be thinking of is how to educate and reeducate people to fully get involved with Bitcoin. Using El Salvador for example that the country have fully opted for Bitcoin you can see people no longer find using it difficult over there.
legendary
Activity: 1372
Merit: 2017
Don't forget that many people in the world have limited access to banks and telecommunications. For them, no electronic form of currency is available and they must rely primarily on paper money or perhaps "physical" bitcoins.

The banks, fine, but the Internet:

"A total of 5 billion people around the world use the internet today – equivalent to 63 percent of the world’s total population.

Internet users continue to grow too, with the latest data indicating that the world’s connected population grew by almost 200 million in the 12 months to April 2022.
"

Digital Around the World

People are not going to use physical Bitcoins because of how impractical they are, if they can use digital ones with their mobile. The bad thing is that they will probably do it through centralized companies and custodial exchanges, but that is a different story.
legendary
Activity: 4466
Merit: 3391
To those that insist that "physical" bitcoins have no use, I want to point out the interesting fact that most of the paper USD in the world is used by people outside of the U.S.

Don't forget that many people in the world have limited access to banks and telecommunications. For them, no electronic form of currency is available and they must rely primarily on paper money or perhaps "physical" bitcoins.
hero member
Activity: 2562
Merit: 586
So who is going to be doing the printing of the physical Bitcoin? or is everyone with some Bitcoin be able to make their own physical copy? Is this just going to be for Hodlers with on full Bitcoin or satoshis owners too should be able to make their own satoshi physical copies too? This is not going to work as I see it regardless of what it will solve.
If the qualities of the digital Bitcoin we know is attached to the physical one and someone or an authority/body is given the power to control the printing (power by who if I may ask?), that means we are doomed to face a lot of mischievous occurrences.

One question you asked which I admired was if those who already own Bitcoin will print theirs or convert it..
This is the weirdest thing that can happen, and definitely – Bitcoin will be affected negatively if this pulls through.
legendary
Activity: 3220
Merit: 1363
www.Crypto.Games: Multiple coins, multiple games
The original and most famous physical version of Bitcoins was Casascius Coin, created by a guy in Utah named Mike Caldwell, which made of brass, with gold electroplating. This coin comes in different shapes, designs and forms.

...
A Casascius physical Bitcoin showing an eight-character code (Source: casascius.com)

This physical Bitcoins were pre-loaded or pre-funded with a certain amount of Bitcoin, such as 1, 5, 10, 100 or 1000 BTC. The coin also include both an identification number and a hidden private key.

The main reason for designing these coins was:

  • To be used for the purchase of goods or services
  • To facilitate the storage and/or management of Bitcoin
  • To make them available for market transactions
  • To act as an investment vehicle
  • To be used for the purchase of goods or services

However, in 2013, Caldwell had to shut it down. The reason for shutting down was because of the intervention of FINCEN due to lack of required licensing to operate.

Certainly, the fact and provenly discussed, Bitcoin is not a thing and will never have a physical form. But what if the world suddenly change and opt to in physical form, are we ready to embrace it?

Sources:
https://phemex.com/academy/what-is-physical-bitcoin
https://www.cnet.com/culture/are-physical-bitcoins-legal/
https://www.analyticssteps.com/blogs/what-casascius-coin


Hate to break it to you, but physical Bitcoins are not really Bitcoin at all. They're just like paper wallets with public and private keypairs. Besides, using Bitcoin physically will defeat its purpose as "Peer to Peer Electronic Cash". It's like going backwards if you ask me. Casascius coins are just collector's items that were made in the very early days of Bitcoin. They're more suitable as a long-term investment than a currency.

With how fast the world is transitioning to the digital era, physical currency will become a thing of the past. Maybe even physical collectibles as NFTs prove to be a complete game changer. Most people think that Bitcoin has no value because it isn't something tangible like Fiat. I'd say Bitcoin has value because it's a decentralized and censorship-resistant cryptocurrency no one can shut down. Someday people will realize this as Bitcoin matures over time. Who knows how the future for the pioneer cryptocurrency will look like? Just my thoughts Grin
legendary
Activity: 3570
Merit: 1959
I think that physical Bitcoin is backward thinking. Humans have had physical money for many centuries, but the digital world and the level of interaction in it is so high that it's no longer enough to only use physical money. So Bitcoin is actually a step forward, as it's a coin that has no physical realm because it's not needed anymore. Sure, there are places and conditions in which there's no stable internet access, electricity or the level of digital literacy is too low, but these people won't be interested in physical Bitcoin probably either. I don't mind projects that suggest physical BTC as a thing of art, a collectible of something like that. But otherwise, it's a waste of resources and space.

It's also an easy way to introduce people to how bitcoin actually works, in fact it's often easier for people if there is a physical representation (even if it does not really matter) to understand the process of private and public keys as well. I actually find it easier to just pull out a coldkey card and show someone how it works than explain something that is difficult for a lay-person to wrap their heads around. Tongue

Everyone is different and adoption is harder in some places than others, obviously.
sr. member
Activity: 1274
Merit: 457
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I don't think Bitcoin is ever possible as physically. However, it may be that a coin will have the private key of a bitcoin wallet on it and it will have to be imported and then run for which you must use the internet.  And at the end I have to come to that crypto.
And I don't think there's any need for its physical assets where people can use Bitcoin via mobile phones in a secure way without having to carry anything.
legendary
Activity: 2968
Merit: 3684
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Do more browsing, there is a market for everything. Ever heard of the Austrian crypto stamp for example? Tongue

Ah man, these little things!

Back then they weren't even called NFTs as I recall.

Actually got myself some of them from the first edition, coughed up more than I wanted, had no idea it'd go for so much more later as when I wanted to complete sets found out they cost way more than I thought I'd have to pay -- not that I intend to sell what I have, just keeping them.

Can't say a x10 price tag in BTC wouldn't tempt me, though.
legendary
Activity: 2646
Merit: 1106
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People are getting adopted to technology. As a result now people are much into scan and pay, tap to pay. There is no need for physical bitcoin, maybe for users who prefer to collect some coins might prefer this. Even the people who haven't got much of education have started using mobile wallets as things were developed in a much user friendly manner.
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