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Gifting cold storage is the main case we see here. Namely to someone who might throw out a printed private key. We spoke with many Bitcoiners who know that frie

Gifting cold storage is the main case we see here. Namely to someone who might throw out a printed private key. We spoke with many Bitcoiners who know that friends and family lost coins they gave them in the early days simply because a printed private key doesn't have much gravitas.

dsr_ 4y ago
What advantage does this have over a thick, pretty foil envelope with nice embossing telling people what the printed code/long barcode/micro-SD card inside is for?
- ccamrobertson 4y ago
  The psychology of cash and how people hold and spend it is unique from any other physical financial instruments. They keep it safer and spend less than they would with credit cards or debit cards. A completely foreign object with a printed key might be kept safe -- but it isn't intuitive to do so. We heard multiple stories of people gifting Bitcoin at events like weddings only for private keys to be tossed out with cards.
  - DonHopkins 4y ago
    Why not just give the newlywed couple a dump truck full of coal, which is much harder to lose track of, so they can burn it to mine their own bitcoin?
    - prox 4y ago
      Isn’t this also just a full circle, where we are back at printing a currency? I already have a secure, self custodial wallet, it’s called cash in my wallet.
      - vkou 4y ago
        Yeah, but when you give me that cash to buy a hot dog from me, how can I verify that I am the actual owner of the received cash?
        prox 4y ago
        I see no way how we can solve this problem! /s
  - wonderbore 4y ago
    How can people hold on onto their birth certificate? The infrastructure is already in place for that, so the problem is that they didn’t understand that that piece of paper was worth money. Handing over a monopoly bill will have the same fate. You can’t keep it in your wallet and it can be lost easily. Either way this is a ridiculous project and would probably best be served by the concept of “gift card” instead, given your explanation.
    - ccamrobertson 4y ago
      Sorry, I don't follow any of your reasoning here. Monopoly money is a low cost print with little detail on standard paper. People don't throw away foreign currency simply because they don't know what it's worth. I'd recommend taking a look at the psychology of cash to understand my point better.
      - wonderbore 4y ago
        > People don't throw away foreign currency Are you sure? If I find a single bill from a random country I assume the worth isn't a whole lot. Such bills get stashed in the souvenir box which may or may not be thrown out at any point when space runs out. > I don't follow any of your reasoning here I don't think the birth certificate analogy is that hard to follow. It's easier to hold onto a US-letter-sized document than it is to save a single bill that you should not place in a wallet.

dsr_ 4y ago

What advantage does this have over a thick, pretty foil envelope with nice embossing telling people what the printed code/long barcode/micro-SD card inside is for?

ccamrobertson 4y ago
The psychology of cash and how people hold and spend it is unique from any other physical financial instruments. They keep it safer and spend less than they would with credit cards or debit cards. A completely foreign object with a printed key might be kept safe -- but it isn't intuitive to do so. We heard multiple stories of people gifting Bitcoin at events like weddings only for private keys to be tossed out with cards.
- DonHopkins 4y ago
  Why not just give the newlywed couple a dump truck full of coal, which is much harder to lose track of, so they can burn it to mine their own bitcoin?
  - prox 4y ago
    Isn’t this also just a full circle, where we are back at printing a currency? I already have a secure, self custodial wallet, it’s called cash in my wallet.
    - vkou 4y ago
      Yeah, but when you give me that cash to buy a hot dog from me, how can I verify that I am the actual owner of the received cash?
      - prox 4y ago
        I see no way how we can solve this problem! /s
- wonderbore 4y ago
  How can people hold on onto their birth certificate? The infrastructure is already in place for that, so the problem is that they didn’t understand that that piece of paper was worth money. Handing over a monopoly bill will have the same fate. You can’t keep it in your wallet and it can be lost easily. Either way this is a ridiculous project and would probably best be served by the concept of “gift card” instead, given your explanation.
  - ccamrobertson 4y ago
    Sorry, I don't follow any of your reasoning here. Monopoly money is a low cost print with little detail on standard paper. People don't throw away foreign currency simply because they don't know what it's worth. I'd recommend taking a look at the psychology of cash to understand my point better.
    - wonderbore 4y ago
      > People don't throw away foreign currency Are you sure? If I find a single bill from a random country I assume the worth isn't a whole lot. Such bills get stashed in the souvenir box which may or may not be thrown out at any point when space runs out. > I don't follow any of your reasoning here I don't think the birth certificate analogy is that hard to follow. It's easier to hold onto a US-letter-sized document than it is to save a single bill that you should not place in a wallet.