How To Give Bitcoin As A Gift

When you become a Bitcoiner, you realise that this is the most precious monetary asset you can own in this century. You not only want to hold it for your future but would like to encourage others to do the same. Helping get your no-coiner or pre-coiner friends off zero can be a tough ask. It takes time, patience and a willingness to teach as well as their desire to learn. 

That doesn’t come easy; it’s as if the stars need to align, and not everyone will be ready when you want to teach them. Humans, however, are remarkably responsive to incentives. One way to get those normies of their arses and into the game is to dangle a gift of Bitcoin as a reward for completing their orange pill training. 

A little bribe never hurt anyone, did it?   

Breadcrumb them into Bitcoin.

Gifting is one way to get them started, and Bitcoin is one of the most extraordinary gifts you can give someone since it’s one of the few presents that can continue to reward you with time.

Bribe gifts aren’t the only reason to gift Bitcoin; you could replace any gifting opportunity with a chance to hand over some sats. Birthdays, anniversaries, graduations are great ways to disperse the coins and create new Bitcoiners. 

The reason I side with training before attaining is they may throw away or lose those sats—a common issue for those who are not aware of how to handle BTC with care. 

Depending on the gift recipients level of expertise and knowledge of Bitcoin, you may have to select a particular option. We’ll take you through some of them, and you can decide which method you prefer. 

Let’s get obvious out of the way.

Sure, you can be a boring old Bitconier and hand them sats via a P2P transfer. Yes, you can get them to download a wallet or open an exchange account and sending them sats via mainchain, lightning or Liquid.

But that’s so lame!

Come on; it’s gifting time; live a little, think outside the box here.

So what are your other options?

Bitcoin USB stick

A single-use BTC stick is the closest thing there is to a Bitcoin gift card. You load funds to a USB stick like the OpenDime, but to access the Bitcoin, you have to remove a piece of the USB stick physically. As long as the outer layer of the Opendime is not removed, you can be sure that the BTC is still on the device.

It’s a great way to show Bitcoin physically and manage any tampering with the gift you hand over, unlike methods like paper wallets or seed phrases. 

Bitcoin paper wallet

There are several ways to create a physical representation of Bitcoin; one of the oldest methods is beginning a paper wallet. You would need to create a wallet and turn the seed phrase/private key into a QR code which you can then print onto a piece of paper and hand over as the gift. 

The receiver can then find private and public keys in this wallet, as well as a QR code to scan and add to the software wallet to complete fast transactions. Naturally, you can make these wallets more festive by ordering them on particular platforms.

Handing over a seed phrase

If you want more creativity or a lame duck, you can create a hot wallet with a specific amount of Bitcoin and then hand over the 12 or 24 words that give them access to the coins. It could be as simple as writing it in a gift card or as elaborate as you would like, but remember, anyone who sees the phrase can get access to the funds. 

Bitcoin seed storage 

If you want to take the seed phrase route but want a more robust option, then a seed storage solution is for you. These seed storage units come with a solid metal device that can withstand extreme conditions. 

It is made from a material that is stainless, shockproof, acid-resistant, and fireproof. It is compatible with most secret sharing and key generation algorithms and keeps the enclosed data secure. This device can be used for storing private keys that can be later retrieved to access the wallet. 

There are options like:

• Billfodl
• Cyphersafe
• CryptoSteel

Bitcoin physical coins

Other physical manifestations of Bitcoin that can appeal to precious metal bugs or collectors are physical coins. These coins come in brass, silver, and gold and are issued in limited edition runs.

They are beautiful works of art and come with a particular casing or box. While these are more for the show, they still have genuine value. They come with a bitcoin address and a private key underneath the tamper-proof hologram which can be used to redeem the funds.

There are options like:

• Denarium  
• Casascius  

Bitcoin hardware wallet

Gifting someone a hardware wallet is even better than a single-use hardware product. This hardware wallet is the most secure way to store Bitcoin with a single sig setup. If you give this gift to someone, you can be sure that they’ll never lose their coins to a hack.

You can either create the wallet for them and add the Bitcoin and hand it over to them, or give them a wallet and take them through the setup process before transferring the Bitcoin. 

If you’re a bit of a twat you can also set up the wallet, hand it over, then steal their coins and show them that they should never trust anyone and to learn to recreate a new wallet you don’t have the keys to and then resend them their coins. 

There are several hardware wallets available:

• Ledger Nano and X
• Trezor 
• Cold Card
• Blockstream Jade
• Bitbox02
• KeepKey

Bitcoin gift card

Bitcoin gift cards are a straightforward, easy-to-understand way of giving BTC as a present. They’ll typically come with a code that will need to be inputted on a company’s website like Binance or Coinbase. From here, the cash value of the gift card will be converted into Bitcoin at the current market rate. 

If you’re going to use this approach, make sure that you choose a trustworthy provider with support in your country. 

This isn’t the most sovereign way to hand over Bitcoin, but if your friend or family member isn’t ready to take full custody, this is a great option to start slow and from the beginning of the acquiring process. 

BTC is the gift that never stops giving

However you choose to do it, Bitcoin is a great gift to give. We are still so early in forming this asset class and have several bull market cycles ahead of us. Now is an excellent time to gift small amounts of BTC and ignite the curiosity that will lead loved ones down the rabbit hole.  

In the fiat world of consumerism, we’re always looking for a memorable way to show our loved ones we care. Giving the gift of financial independence and sovereign money can’t be far from the highest sign of love, can it? 

A shameless plug

People are always more responsive to learning once they have skin in the game, and if you need a resource to help guide your new coiner friends, then TBM is here to help. Feel free to send them over to us, and they can learn all about Bitcoin for free, of course.