Coinkite’s Opendime store has been in and out-of-stock of its flagship “bitcoin stick” for physical bitcoin transactions for awhile. Nonetheless, there is some good news from the company as they reported they’ve been working on the new version of the stick (V3), with the first batch already beginning to ship as of last week.
The team said that they are testing, packaging and dispatching back-orders as quick as possible in the order they were originally received, up to Aug 16th. Everyone waiting on backorders will get the new version.
The first new V3 stock of Opendime has already started shipping (…and already sold out just from previous back-orders) within the last week, replacing for good the V2 build. The company said they are expecting to get back to “normal” stock levels sometime in September.
Opendime is a small USB stick that allows anyone to spend bitcoin like cash or gold coins. “Transactions” consist of simply handing the Opendime stick to another person. Protection measures see to it that the receiver just verify the balance by connecting it to any block explorer. It works exactly like a bitcoin “bearer bond.” Still, when receiving an Opendime with a balance, it’s best to verify that it’s an authentic Opendime (not just something that looks like one).
Thanks to the Bitcoin open-source community, there are a few options for doing that:
1) Samourai Wallet – a full-featured Android bitcoin wallet with Opendime support deeply integrated.
2) Opendime Official Chrome App – good for desktop.
3) Opendime carries the code needed in Python as well – more advanced users don’t actually need to download or install anything. Just run cd /Volumes/OPENDIME/advanced; python trustme.py and something like this will run:
Opendime USB at: /Volumes/OPENDIME
Wallet address: 1PCejtxqj92B5bn3nqP6dp1jjybS3iGD6a
Opendime Version: 2.2.0
time: 20170721.115213
git: v3@d0c4b54
serial: SPX6ESSUJVGVCIBAEBDTMDAK74+0855ccbebab2
Additional low-level checks:
- correct virtual disk geometry
- read-back over USB EP0 correct
- good bitcoin message signing #1: fba39eeffa0d
...
- good bitcoin message signing #5: c3b06f6905b7
- genuine per-unit factory certificate verified
- good anti-counterfeiting test #1: 3b766a52a6f7
...
- good anti-counterfeiting test #5: 683a246f2122
Looks good!
1PCejtxqj92B5bn3nqP6dp1jjybS3iGD6a
What’s new in Opendime V3?
This change is a hardware bump, with minor firmware changes:
- Improved the Japanese language text]
- New batch certificate (#2) for fi the st build of version 3.0 hardware.
- Look for version “2.2.0” in the firmware with checksum:
753ec10262f92c6bbe4f9a01e440278c36c2c8352ed897a75aabb0993d63ab9aand complete version string:2.2.0.20170721.115213
The real updates are on the hardware side, where a number of changes were made to improve reliability and manufacturability:
- The device is now 47mm long, up from 40mm. The extra length solves an issue experienced with some USB ports that didn’t allow proper and complete insertion.
- The protective plastic is now applied into a narrowed section of the board, which better secures it, makes the product look more “finished”, and generally improves the quality and appearance of the product.
- Moved the “unseal” hole a little further under the plastic, just in case.
- The edge of the board will be more smooth with less rough spots due to changes to how the PCB is made.
- Board is marked in gold with “v3.0” and “r.A” (for revision A).