I don't care about technicalities, the coins look awesome.
Is this really meant to have any practical use? Looking good is the main purpose IMHO. I'm ok with that.
Bitcoins get physical
21–30 of 49 posts
Re: Bitcoins get physical
#22I don't get it. If I recieve a physical bitcoin, how do I know it was not previously "redeemed"?
You don't. Even better, this would be great as a scam, if you simply count on it being handed a couple of times from person to person before someone decides to check the code online. Who are you going to complain to if it turns out not to work at redemption time? Would you accept one of these without verifying that it has indeed not been redeemed. How do you know that your coin is the only coin with that particular c…
Not exactly, because of the way public addresses and private keys work.
Anyone can check that the address 1xGibi... holds the declared amount of bitcoins. Only someone with the knowledge of private key can transfer them to other address. So you can verify the address and physical integrity of coins before accepting them.
You may think of this as of passing around a signed check.
Re: Bitcoins get physical
#23It's an interesting souvenir and definitely nice to look at, but once you spend your BTC online, the intrinsic value (the BTC) and the store of value (the coin) become separated, and the coin becomes worthless. In fact, I don't even know how money would get exchanged... if you gave someone the coin, it still doesn't confer ownership. It's essentially an anonymous IOU, meaning it has no value.
> if you gave someone the coin, it still doesn't confer ownership It does because the coin has the private key. Maybe it's better to think of it as a key to a (public) safe. The key represents the right to open this safe. So, by giving you the key, I give you the ownership to the content of the safe. (However, if I have another copy of the key it get's problematic.) > It's essentially an anonymous IOU Which is exactl…
except I can't write down the serial number of my hundred dollar bills, give the bills to you and then spend them myself.
Re: Bitcoins get physical
#24this seems to open a whole new door for double-spending and other forms of counterfeiting. nothing seems to stop me from buying a physical coin, then transferring the digital coin to my mtgox account but still spending the physical "coin".
to guard against this, you need to check block explorer for every coin that you were going to spend with a physical merchant, I think?
Re: Bitcoins get physical
#25this seems to open a whole new door for double-spending and other forms of counterfeiting. nothing seems to stop me from buying a physical coin, then transferring the digital coin to my mtgox account but still spending the physical "coin". to guard against this, you need to check block explorer for every coin that you were going to spend with a physical merchant, I think?
The private key is stored under a special hologram sticker, which is tamper evident. It should be obvious if the coin was digitally transferred.
Re: Bitcoins get physical
#26this seems to open a whole new door for double-spending and other forms of counterfeiting. nothing seems to stop me from buying a physical coin, then transferring the digital coin to my mtgox account but still spending the physical "coin". to guard against this, you need to check block explorer for every coin that you were going to spend with a physical merchant, I think?
The private key is stored under a special hologram sticker, which is tamper evident. It should be obvious if the coin was digitally transferred.
obvious if you have an internet-connected computer present at every point of sale? -- oh nevermind I was mistaken, I get it now. neat.
Re: Bitcoins get physical
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
> if you gave someone the coin, it still doesn't confer ownership It does because the coin has the private key. Maybe it's better to think of it as a key to a (public) safe. The key represents the right to open this safe. So, by giving you the key, I give you the ownership to the content of the safe. (However, if I have another copy of the key it get's problematic.) > It's essentially an anonymous IOU Which is exactl…
except I can't write down the serial number of my hundred dollar bills, give the bills to you and then spend them myself.
I think this is why you don't load them yourself. Essentially it is this company backing the coin, not you. When they send you a loaded coin it probably won't be loaded with the coin you bought it with.
Another interesting property is that unlike a bank they cannot issue more money than they have assets, as each coin is linked to a unique private key. (assumes they are not just a one-time scam)
Re: Bitcoins get physical
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
The private key is stored under a special hologram sticker, which is tamper evident. It should be obvious if the coin was digitally transferred.
obvious if you have an internet-connected computer present at every point of sale? -- oh nevermind I was mistaken, I get it now. neat.
Obvious if the hologram has been tampered with.
Re: Bitcoins get physical
#29This just feels wrong. Physical coins provide peer-to-peer non-anonymous transactions instead of distributed anonymous ones, that is what Bitcoin is about.
So wear a mask when buying something with the physical coins. Now you're anonymous.
Re: Bitcoins get physical
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
The private key is stored under a special hologram sticker, which is tamper evident. It should be obvious if the coin was digitally transferred.
obvious if you have an internet-connected computer present at every point of sale? -- oh nevermind I was mistaken, I get it now. neat.
Is the assumption that you might not really reasonable in this world?