The Dutch founder of a bitcoin ATM firm has gone to great lengths to highlight the digital currency -- implanting near-field communication (NFC) chips under his skin so he can use his hand to access his Bitcoin wallet.
Martijn Wismeijer is the founder of mrbitco.in, which has installed bitcoin ATMs in the Netherlands, Belgium, Czech Republic and Italy. Earlier this month he decided the safest place for the private keys that will unlock his bitcoin wallet, was between the skin on his hands.
The founder posted a video online showing himself and some interested parties having the implant -- a 2mmx12mm glass chip that stores 888 bytes, according to a report by International Business Times (IBT) -- secured under the skin using a syringe, all to a relaxing backing-track provided by Prodigy. While there's not much memory on the chip, it's enough to store things like key codes for a bitcoin wallet or other passwords.
The process looks sterile enough, though was likely not undertaken by a doctor. As Wismeijer told IBT, "Most doctors will not want to install the implant so a body manipulation artist (preferably not just tattoo artist or piercer) will be your next best bet, but make sure they work according to strict hygiene codes and know what they are doing". Of course, ensuring that when you are neither a doctor nor a "body manipulation artist", is probably not all that cut and dry. In the video, the volunteers are receiving the implants in a place called the old Prodent Toothpaste factory, during a biohacking session organised by a group called Permanent Beta.
Wismeijer and co are far from the first people to attempt such a stunt. University of Reading cybernetics professor Kevin Warwick implanted RFID chips in his forearm back in 1998 in an attempt to control lights, heaters and computer equipment remotely.
Then there's a group of Pittsburgh-based DIY biohackers called Grindhouse Wetware that are following in Warwick's footsteps, opting to plug magnets under their flesh, along with homemade devices that can log body temperature and heart rate.
Wismeijer, though obviously wanting to highlight cryptocurrencies for anyone that's still not all that familiar with them, is very much in line with the likes of Professor Warwick and the DIY biohackers -- he wants us to start opening our front doors with our palms and flicking on devices at home with the wave of a wrist, rather than having to pull out a pesky NFC-equipped smartphone to do the job.
Speaking to IBT, he said: "The reason I did take the implants is that I have real-world uses for it today, my phones and tablets are all compatible. I personally feel that by supporting these biohacking developments we can learn what works and what doesn't and that some day, in the not so distant future we will be able to implant more functionality like sub dermal glucose sensors or heart rate monitors and other vital health monitoring devices."
Like the Pittsburgh biohackers, he is experimenting with the implants in the hope of driving forward "social acceptance" of such things. Grindhouse Wetware cofounder Tim Cannon says that once "your freaky cousin" gets one of his devices implanted, "then your next door neighbour gets LEDs in his skin, that's how things start to come into being". While he's talking about a mass acceptance of transhumanism -- of modifying the body through science and technology to such an extreme you might replace a healthy limb with a bionic one -- Wismeijer talks about his experiment paving the way for implanted medical devices.
The only problem with that argument -- that this experiment was for the good of scientific advancement rather than a PR stunt -- is that physicians are already experimenting with medical implants of all kinds. Beyond the decades' old pacemaker, a team from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) has invented a tiny implant that analyses blood and sends data to a doctor, while continuous glucose monitors have been implanted and trialled in humans.
Wismeijer's method is arguably designed to popularise and normalise these kinds of interventions, however. It shows how simple and quick the process is -- in the video, it takes moments for the implant to be introduced. The team warns it shouldn't be tried out until the skin has healed, but from the limited footage in the YouTube video, volunteers don't appear to experience that much discomfort and their hand does not look uncomfortable with the implant in.
According to IBT, Wismeijer uses the implants to switch of an alarm clock and is planning on programming his own door lock so he can do away with house keys.
Mr Bitcoin is all about security and the site has handy hints on staying protected. It's not clear how the whole stunt is that great of an advert for bitcoin, however, seen as under the site's "What the experts say" section is a one-line quote by none other than Bitcoin entrepreneur Martijn Wismeijer talking about how safe the whole thing is already. "MrBitco.in is the safest, easiest and most efficient way to purchase Bitcoin in exchange for cash." They forgot the tagline, "but you might want to stick your wallet key under your flesh to protect against thieves".
This article was originally published by WIRED UK