Author: Alex Kotenko 2014-05-18 11:47:11
Published on: 2014-05-18T11:47:11+00:00
A discussion was had about the possibility of paper currency representing bitcoins, with a focus on a centralized solution where one party produces and maintains the paper currency. The paper currency would have bitcoins tied to each note, verifiable via blockchain. The key features of the proposed system would be that it is reloadable and NFC-based, so that anyone can verify any notes instantly by touching it with their phone. Merchants could also redeem the notes at the moment of accepting it, convert it into fully online bitcoins and avoid costs of maintaining paper money turnover. One potential issue discussed was how to protect the notes from unauthorized redeem, particularly if someone else tries to use their own NFC to reach the wallet. The email chain includes further discussions on the limitations and challenges of such a system, including the need for successful sweeping to prevent double-spending and regulatory issues related to selling physical bitcoin artifacts. Othercoin was suggested as having better properties in the space of offline transactions, while some suggestions were made for improving the design of the proposed system. The author of the original email also suggested naming the proposal "draft-felix-paper-currency" to follow hygienic practice for assigning bip numbers.
Updated on: 2023-06-08T22:51:08.682939+00:00