Slashdot Mirror
Entrepreneur Injects Bitcoin Wallets Into Hands
wiredmikey writes A Dutch entrepreneur has had two microchips containing Bitcoin injected into his hands to help him make contactless payments. The chips, enclosed in a 2mm by 12mm capsule of "biocompatible" glass, were injected using a special syringe and can communicate with devices such as Android smartphones or tablets via NFC. "What's stored on the microchips should be seen as a savings account rather than a current account," Martijn Wismeijer, co-founder of MrBitcoin said. "The payment device remains the smartphone, but you transfer funds from the chips." The chips are available on the Internet, sold with a syringe for $99, but Wismeijer suggested individuals should find a specialist to handle the injection to avoid infections.
Why?
Why was my first thought, of a psychologist...
"Thank you. With this handshake you handed over all your bitcoins to me."
I love bitcoin. I've mined them, bought them, sold them, bought real tangible (completely legal) things with them, donated to worthwhile causes with them, and have read enough to understand how the whole system works...and even I think this is a downright retarded idea.
That's... not small considering your hands are pretty tightly packed full of muscles, ligaments, and bone with very little free space that doesn't need to flex. twist, or shift during use, and they're always knocking into things. Even if this is a good idea technologically, it sure sounds like its a bad idea for practical reasons, at least until the capsule can be made smaller.
You can make it secure by encrypting the data that you write to the NFC chip, and then decrypt it on the phone.