Please excuse me for being an ignorant newb here... but what is stopping people from just making a wallet file encoded in a QR code?
private keys are 256bits long. default wallet generates 100 pool keys plus whatever keys you've manually created - so say, 110 keys. That's 3250bytes.
Maximum data storage of a QR code is 2953 bytes
1Will
Thank you for clearing that up for me sir.
Please excuse me for being an ignorant newb here... but what is stopping people from just making a wallet file encoded in a QR code?
I dont understand what you want to use this for?
If this were possible you could print a pseudo-wallet on paper and hand it to some one like cash. You could also conceivably use it like a debit card for BTC, but as previously noted security would be minimal.
One additional question I had is, could a minimal wallet file be created that would fit within a single QR code? If this were possible, this could help take the responsibility for the security of BTC exchanges off of the exchange services and leave it completely up to the end users. As a retailer my main apprehension in taking bitcoin is the fact that if my server was compromised I would then be responsible for all the lost BTC. This places the risk back onto the user and frees up service providers resources for development, and also has the additional benefit of decentralizing the system with an open physical exchange platform.