Print your own physical money with PolyCash scratch-off cards

Joey Rich
Joey Rich
Sep 7, 2018 · 3 min read

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have grown so successful that nearly everyone has heard of them by now. According to this article, 8% of Americans owned cryptocurrency as of March 2018. But still, buying crypto is a complicated process which requires giving your bank account number to an exchange and then waiting several days for verification and bank transfers to complete. Exchanges like LocalBitcoins make it quicker to get started by allowing people to meet up face to face and exchange coins for cash. But even with LocalBitcoins, it’s recommended that you wait for 10 minutes or even up to an hour for a bitcoin block to be mined before parting with your cash.

PolyCash makes giving someone coins as easy as giving them a business card. Anyone can design and print their own physical currency cards using our open source app. Using PolyCash, you can design prepaid crypto cards containing coins in the currency of your choice: we’re compatible with Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Tether and any other currency based on the original Bitcoin code. All that’s needed to create your own physical money is the PolyCash app, card stock paper, a printer, a paper cutter, and scratch off stickers which you can purchase cheaply online. To create cards, deposit coins to your PolyCash account, then download and print the PDFs, cut up your cards and put on the scratch off stickers. These cards are prepaid bonds issued by you. Of course, it’s possible to create “counterfeit” cards which look like they have money on them but don’t, and therefore some level of trust is required between the buyer and seller of these cards. But buyers can easily resolve this by scratching off their cards and triggering a transaction on the blockchain before paying. Because some trust is required, we recommend that you put your name & phone number on the back of your cards so that buyers can contact you if they have a problem redeeming their card.

The amount of coins you’ll receive is shown on the front of each card. But you can also create cards which exchange value from one currency to another. For example, you can create exchange cards which have Bitcoin branding but show dollar amounts on the front. These cards will hold value as dollars until redeemed, at which point you’ll receive bitcoins equivalent to the dollar amount shown on the card (based on the current exchange rate).

When redeeming a card, you’ll be given two options. You can either withdraw your coins to a crypto address immediately or you can create an account and withdraw your coins to that user account. PolyCash has a secure accounts system where you can use each card as a secure physical factor of authentication. Since each card already comes with a secure random code hidden behind its scratch off sticker, you’ll be prompted to use that code as a secure username for your new account. You can even connect cards together so that even if you lose one of your cards, you can still use another card to log in and access your money.

If you already sell cryptocurrencies on LocalBitcoins, these cards can make your process easier and more professional by allowing you to give physical cards to your buyers. Or, you can create cool business cards with trace amounts of crypto attached. If you’re doing an ICO or involved with launching an altcoin, these cards are a great way to distribute currency to your users. To get involved, feel free to try installing PolyCash and creating your own line of cards. Or get in touch via joeyfrich@gmail.com so that I can help you out.

PolyCash

The peer to peer platform for currencies and betting

Joey Rich

Written by

Joey Rich

PolyCash

PolyCash

The peer to peer platform for currencies and betting

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