A Fresh Idea: Bitcoin-Linked QR Codes on Payment Cards

Hey folks, Just had a lightbulb moment after my shower, and I think I’ve stumbled upon something pretty revolutionary. Big fan of Yubikey here, and I really trust their tech, so I’m thinking of teaming up with them for this idea. I believe the engineering crowd will see the value in this. Let me explain: The Idea: Picture this every time you get a new payment card, whether it’s credit or debit, it comes with a Bitcoin QR code. This code represents a unique Bitcoin address that Yubikey would create and manage. Here’s the kicker: any Bitcoin sent to that address would be instantly converted and deposited into the bank account tied to your card. Why This Is Great: Easy Global Transfers: Imagine being in a tight spot and needing to load cash onto your card fast. With this setup, anyone from anywhere can send Bitcoin to your card’s QR code, and boom, the money shows up in your account without any hassle. Security You Can Count On: This whole thing would be powered by Yubikey, a name that stands for security. They’d take care of creating and managing these Bitcoin addresses, making sure your money is safe and the whole process runs smoothly. Bitcoin Only: I’m all in for the Bitcoin grassroots vibe, so I want this tech to be exclusive to Bitcoin. It’s about honoring the original vision of the cryptocurrency and keeping it true to its decentralized roots. A New Cultural Movement...

This is not revolutionary, neither something new. It's called a "centralized exchange". If you need to trust a company to secure your funds or instantly convert Bitcoin to fiat, then you're dealing with a centralized exchange. Otherwise, try to think of one example of your idea that such a company couldn't implement. The only distinction you've made is that the system is backed by Yubikey, which doesn't really say much to me. A single point of failure is always prone to failure, whether it's protected by Yubikey or Chuck Norris.

You are not making any sense. You should avoid saying shit when you have not any constructive thing to say. I mean, do you have a pair of eyes or just forehead. Do not say anything. Just stop. - remotemass

Your AI is leaking.

I have several questions. 1. Does that mean you need to send Bitcoin address (generated by Yubikey) to the company which issue the physical or virtual payment card? 2. If private key used to generate the address only stored on Yubikey, how exact the conversion (from BTC to fiat) happen? Do you need to plug Yubikey to computer or phone and use software which automatically send Bitcoin to the exchange, sell it to fiat and send the fiat to the bank US? 3. Are you aware that several custodial service (usually payment gateway) already offer feature to convert received BTC to fiat automatically?

Any "revolutionary idea" has to do two things at least. First is to solve an existing problem and second to do it in a way that the new method has advantages over the old one. In this case you are trying to solve sending money globally. Well that problem has been solved already in two ways centralized and decentralized. That mean you need to elaborate more on what problem you are trying to solve. In the centralized solution, one can use the credit card companies, online payment processors like PayPal, and similar solutions to send money using a third party by paying a fee. In the decentralized solution, one has to have bitcoin and send that directly to the bitcoin address of the received without any third party or additional fees. You are trying to mix these two solutions together without being able to explain why you think that is a better solution. For starters it involves additional middle men (on top of the two banks involved compared to the centralized solution I explained above). That also involves additional fees because nobody works for free! Another issue involved with your solution is the exchange rates. Apart from the fluctuating market, these services rarely offer any fair exchange rates to their customers. There is always a big spread and hidden fees. Meaning for example if price is currently $60k they exchange your coins at $57k (ie. $3k hidden fee) then take another fee for their service. That means you should also explain why would someone want to use this method through this particular centralized service. They could either receive money directly through centralized methods and simply use that money in their credit card or they could receive bitcoin and exchange it on a CEX that would give them a much better deal.

Let's say you have found the way to generate Bitcoin address using Yubikey (though I'm not aware of any app that may do it)and send BTC to this address.  But, Bitcoin can not be converted by itself, i.e without the the  transaction to relevant exchange service.  Who will sign this transaction?  Central service that would hold your key pooh pooh ?

I don't understand. Why would anyone send money to your credit/debit card? Also, reusing a single address is bad for your privacy. Better would be an xpub that the card could use to create a new address when needed. But I still don't understand why someone would send money to your credit/debit card.

If you need fiat currency, it is much better and cheaper just to sell it in an exchange or p2p . Of course yubikey in this case is just a white label service that will charge a fee. Cutting off the intermediate will save fees and make the service more secure.

Probably if Yubico could go into this business and issued their own cryptocard connected to wallet secured by their HW security key some people would use it.  I don't see any difference between (let's say Wirex) crypto card and the card issued by Yubico. However,  it is inclusively my own assumption.

There are people who store their bitcoins on a centralized exchange account and lose it when it gets hacked. That doesn't make the solution good. If such a service were to be created, it has to offer very competitive rates to not be a service a handful of users use...

The idea not to store but to spend bitcoins using  crypto card via PoS terminals at retail points. I have a few crypto cards (Wirex included) which I top up with bitcoin and use them in my daily routin to cover my various purchases in wide range of shops. Thus, I would not mind if another crypto-linked debit card (let's say under Jubico umbrella)  occurred, Regarding competitive rates, definitely it is up to issuer of crypto card.

Forget to mention it earlier, but many of OP recent post/thread created using chatbot which usually also contain word "ChatGPT" on it. So i would recommend other member to put OP to ignore list. FWIW YubiKey (created by Yubico) is closer to hardware wallet, which store all kinds of password, private key, 2FA authentication and other sensitive data.