This page contains a digital version of the Endnotes of Dr. Matthew Rippon’s Foreword to the Encyclopedia of Physical Bitcoins and Crypto-Currencies, as it is displayed on pages 41-43.
Endnotes
- Nakamoto is anonymous so there is no way to confirm his gender. Satoshi could be a man, woman, group of people, company, organization, or government agency. ‘He’ presented himself as male.
- “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System” Satoshi Nakamoto (2008). Link: https://bitcoin.org/bit coin.pdf
- The protocol is ‘Bitcoin’ while the currency is ‘bitcoin’.
- Miners perform proof-of-work (POW) exercises on the ‘candidate block’ of unconfirmed transactions. Miners use the computational power of their hardware to rapidly hash the candidate block and generate a
hash below a defined number known as the difficulty target. The first miner to achieve this is rewarded with 25 BTC at the time of writing. - Two excellent guides to Bitcoin are “Mastering Bitcoin: Unlocking Digital Cryptocurrencies” Andreas Antonopoulos (2014) and “Bitcoin for the Befuddled” Conrad Barski and Chris Wilmer (2014).
- “Silk Road: The Untold Story” Wired 23 May 2015. Link: http://www.wired.com/2015/05/silk-road-unt old-story/
- The bitcoin price rose from 13 USD on 1 January 2013 to 1,120 USD on 29 November 2013.
- “Bitcoin Isn’t the Future of Money – It’s Either a Ponzi Scheme or a Pyramid Scheme” Washington Post 8 June 2015. Link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2015/06/08/bitcoin-isnt-the- future-of-money-its-either-a-ponzi-scheme-or-a-pyramid-scheme/
- Bitcoin 2.0 businesses employ the blockchain to – among other uses – issue smart contracts, validate identities, and notarize documents.
- That said, Mike Caldwell, founder of Casascius coins, appears in the documentary “The Rise and Rise of
Bitcoin” (2014) for three minutes and 19 seconds from 45:57. Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/ tt2821314/ He discusses his filming experience at https://casascius.wordpress.com/2013/05/19/casascius- coin-production-featured-in-the-rise-and-rise-of-bitcoin/ - This is not to suggest that physical Bitcoin enthusiasts do not research coins. I merely note that, until now, there has not been a comprehensive catalogue which provides data and photographs on all known manufacturers and their products.
- The prefix is typically the first eight digits of a coin’s public address. The first character is ‘1’ and each of the next seven characters can be one of 58 examples. As such, there are a total of 2,207,984,167,552
possibilities which means that the likelihood of finding two public addresses with the same eight first characters is remote. The full public address can either be discovered by entering the first characters on a blockchain website like https://btc.blockr.io/ or is shown on an enclosed certificate. - Casascius holograms were successfully compromised at the DEF CON hacker convention in August
2013. Caldwell immediately took measures to ensure that future coins were tamper-proof. “Casa- scius Physical Bitcoins Cracked at Defcon” Link: http://codinginmysleep.com/casascius-physical-bi
coins-cracked-at-defcon/ “Defcon 21: Successful Compromise of the Hologram Reported” Link: https:// casascius.wordpress.com/2013/08/04/defcon-21-successful-compromise-of-the-hologram-reported/ - This is only the case for Alitin. Link: http://www.alitinmint.com/Home/About
- “Paper Bitcoin Wallet” Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20110629211014/http://www.casascius.com/
- “Introducing Bitbills!” Bitcoin Talk 9 May 2011. Link: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=7724
- “CASASCIUS PHYSICAL BITCOIN – In Stock Now! (pic)” Bitcoin Talk 6 September 2011. Link: https:// bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=41892
- “Mind in Matter: An Introduction to Material Culture Theory and Method” Jules David Prown (1982) Winterthur Portfolio 17: 1 p. 1.
- Chinese mints make coins for Western producers but infrequently make their own original physical Bit-
coin. The only known examples are Geek Bitcoin and Chinese Businessman. - “First Ever Graded Casascius Coins?” Bitcoin Talk 24 April 2013. Link: https://bitcointalk.org/index. php?topic=186098
- “Grading Coins – A Few Basic Questions” Bitcoin Talk 27 July 2015. Link: https://bitcointalk.org/index. php?topic=1136216
- For example, “[WTS] Casascius, Le
- -160, the hexadecimal prefix 0x01 and checksum is added, and the result is encoded with Base58Check to produce the public address.
- “Bitcoins, Other Digital Currencies Stolen in Massive ‘Pony’ Botnet Attack” PCWorld 24 February 2014. Link: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2101260/bitcoins-other-digital-currencies-stolen-in-massive-po ny-botnet-attack.html
- “Lifestyle, Growth, or Community Involvement? The Balance of Goals of UK Artisan Food Producers” Angela Tregear (2005) Entrepreneurship and Regional Development 17: 1 p. 12.
- “Coin Making Guide: From Sketch to Strike” Jonathan Frammingham (2015).
- “Services – Prasos Oy” Link: https://prasos.fi/?page_id=97
- For example, in 2009, Zimbabwe issued a 100 trillion Z$ note.
- “Picasso Painting Breaks Record For Most Expensive Artwork Sold at Auction” The Guardian 12 May 2015. Link: http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/may/12/pablo-picasso-work-sets-record- for-most-expensive-artwork-sold-at-auction
- “Mark Rothko Work Sold For Record $86.9m at Auction” BBC 9 May 2012. Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/ news/world-us-canada-18001432
- “Influence: Science and Practice” Robert Cialdini (2001) pp. 203-232.
- “BitcoinSpeculation.net – A Collection of Bitcoin Price Predictions and Speculation” Link: http://bitcoin speculation.net/
- “Casascius Bitcoin Analyzer” Link: http://casascius.uberbills.com/
- “The Economy of Qualities” Michel Callon, Cécile Méadel, and Vololona Rabeharisoa (2002) Economy and Society 31: 2 p. 198.
- The two other major American coin graders – Professional Coin Grading Service and Independent Coin Graders – refuse to certify physical Bitcoin. The Coin Grading Service UK does grade physical Bitcoin but, confusingly, has a proprietary grading system. The vast majority of collectors, including those in the UK, use ANACS.
- “ANACS – America’s Oldest Coin Authentication and Grading Service” Link: http://www.anacs.com/
- “Coin Grading and Professional Third-Party Grading Services” ANACS (undated) pp. 9-11. Link: http:// www.anacs.com/PDFFiles/ANACS_Brochure.pdf
- “Submission Form” Link: http://www.anacs.com/PDFFiles/submissionform.pdf
- For example, “[WTS] Casascius coins – 1 BTC 2011 Error coin – .5 Brass 2013 – 1 BTC Silver 2013” Bit- coin Talk 14 June 2015. Link: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1089616
- “Cryptonic PHYSICAL MONEROj for SALE” Bitcoin Talk 10 March 2015. Link: https://bitcointalk.org/ index.php?topic=984034
- “[Make Offer] Antaui, 5WDC, 1 Oz. Silver Coins… for Nxt” Nxt Forum 24 April 2014. Link: https://nxt forum.org/trading-exchanges/antaui-5wdc-1-oz-silver-coins-for-nxt/
- “Pricing | TGBEX” Link: http://www.tgbex.com/pricing/
- FinCEN is part of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
- “Money Services Business Registration Factsheet” FinCEN (undated). Link: http://www.fincen.gov/finan cial_institutions/msb/pdf/FinCENfactsheet.pdf
- “Application of FinCEN’s Regulations to Persons Administering, Exchanging, or Using Virtual Curren- cies” FinCEN 18 March 2013. Link: http://fincen.gov/statutes_regs/guidance/pdf/FIN-2013-G001.pdf
- “U.S. Government Nastygram Shuts Down One-Man Bitcoin Mint” Wired 12 December 2013. Link: http://www.wired.com/2013/12/casascius/
- “Re: [WTB/WTS] Casascius Holo Error / Collectible Marketplace” Bitcoin Talk 17 March 2014. Link: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=214589.msg5738972#msg5738972
- “LEALANA PHYSICAL BTC & LTC RESUMING SALES (UNFUNDED)” Bitcoin Talk 16 May 2014. Link: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=610924
- “Re: 2013-12-12 Wired – U.S. Government Nastygram Shuts Down One-Man Bitcoin Mint” Bitcoin Talk 15 December 2013. Link: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=368431.msg3972512#msg3972512
- “Guidance on Preparing A Complete & Sufficient Suspicious Activity Report Narrative” FinCEN
November 2003. Link: http://www.fincen.gov/statutes_regs/files/sarnarrcompletguidfinal_112003.pdf - “Denarium Bitcoin | Affordable Physical Bitcoins” Link: https://denarium.com/
- “f*D | Rare .999 Fine Silver Crypto Proofs” Peercoin Talk December 28 2013. Link: https://www.peer cointalk.org/index.php?topic=1782
- “[USA/CANADA GROUP BUY] Denarium Silver 1 BTC Coins” Bitcoin Talk 23 October 2015. Link: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1218530
- “Norfed lovers stackers space (Page 1)” Link: http://forums.silverstackers.com/topic-13835-norfed-lov ers-stackers-space.html
- “Chinese Silver Panda” Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Silver_Panda
- For example, Supernet coins, which were only released in June 2015, had been graded by December. “1st Edition Supernet Coins – Silver/Antique/Gold” Bitcoin Talk 21 June 2015. Link: https://bitcointalk.org/ index.php?topic=1096184.msg13178175#msg13178175
- “Physical Crypto General Discussion” Bitcoin Talk 21 July 2015. Link: https://bitcointalk.org/index. php?topic=1129862
- “Collectibles” Link: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=217
- “Quadrum coin cases” Link: http://www.coingallery.co.uk/quadrum-coin-cases-36-c.asp
- “Bitcoin Paper Wallet Generator: Print Offline Tamper-Resistant Addresses” Link: https://bitcoinpaper wallet.com/
- “Crypto Coin Wallet Cards – Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Ppcoin Paper Wallets” Link: https://www.cryptocoin walletcards.com/
- “Prypto: About Prypto” Link: https://prypto.com/?pg=qLSeries 1s6rPyeLp5g
- alana, CI, Veri, Antaui *OPEN FOR BUSINESS*” Bitcoin Talk 3
August 2015. Link: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1142211 - Caldwell advertised in all 22 print issues of Bitcoin Magazine.
- A producer auction is “Lealana Auction” Bitcoin Talk 7 February 2015. Link: https://bitcointalk.org/in dex.php?topic=948952 and a re-seller auction is “Casascius 25 BTC coin” Bitcoin Talk 1 August 2015. Link: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1140324
- Nakamoto stated (p. 1) that “[w]hat is needed is an electronic payment system based on cryptographic proof instead of trust, allowing any two willing parties to transact directly with each other without the need for a trusted third party.”
- Bitcoin Improvement Proposals (BIPs) are modifications to the Bitcoin protocol or information about suggested amendments. Link: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Bitcoin_Improvement_Proposals
- “Casascius” Link: https://casascius.com/2factor/
- Some physical Bitcoin producers create their own two factor schemes. While this does secure bitcoin from interlopers, it in no way negates the need for buyers to trust the manufacturers.
- Wallet software uses entropy to generate the private key and public key. The resulting public key is hashed with SHA-256 and RIPEMD