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If you are reading this because you have received a Casascius Physical Bitcoin product that says "casascius. Unless you ordered it directly from me, the key should have been provided to you with the piece, otherwise it has no value. A two-factor physical bitcoin is a piece that has requires two pieces of information to be redeemed, each of which has been created independently by unrelated parties, and both of which are required to spend the funds.
In order to redeem the funds on the piece, both the embedded key and the secondary passphrase must be known. The main advantage to having a two-factor piece is a high level of security. Since I the issuer never possess both private keys at any time, there is no chance that I could steal the funds.
This makes the piece useful for storing large amounts of bitcoin with a very high degree of confidence that no unauthorized person knows its private key. The strength is in the numbers. Bitcoin is based upon a branch of mathematics called "elliptic curve cryptography", and the math allows for this.
The concept is called "elliptic curve multiplication", and is similar to the process used for outsourcing the creation of vanity Bitcoin addresses. Although the piece is based on multiple pieces of private key material, it has only one Bitcoin address. A downloadable tool called Bitcoin Address Utility assists you in getting started. This program has several functions, but the one you'll need is called "Intermediate Code Generator" and it's under the Tools menu. You enter a passphrase here, and it will be converted to an "Intermediate Code".
Provide this part to me in the notes. I can generate Bitcoin addresses for multiple pieces from a single intermediate code if they'll all require the same passphrase. I can also create two-factor physical bitcoins from a hex public key instead of an Intermediate Code. In this case, the key material you'll need to redeem the piece is the associated private key. You'll also use the "key combiner" screen to do this, instead of the passphrase decryption process.
The purpose of the confirmation code is to enable you to validate two things: Second, it confirms that you have the correct passphrase. The utility's "Confirmation Code Validator" screen takes the confirmation code and gives you your own Bitcoin address. The confirmation code is useful for this verification and nothing more.
It can't be used for redeeming the funds, and is not needed for redeeming the funds. You need them both. There is no way to get around this - if there were, the two-factor scheme would have no value. One private key is the one you generated when you placed the order, and the other is hidden inside the physical bitcoin piece.
You need to use a tool that takes both private keys and combines them into a single private key. Once you have the single private key, redemption is exactly the same as redeeming a single-factor private key. The Bitcoin Address Utility tool can decrypt encrypted private keys.
Use the Address Utility screen for this it's under Tools. Type the encrypted private key into the "Private Key WIF " box, and the passphrase in the box below it. Then click the double-down arrows. The decrypted hex private key will appear. If your physical bitcoin contains two key circles, you have a character private key.
The one that starts with "6P" is where the code starts. The dashes connect the two halves of the code, but are not part of the code itself. Two-Factor Physical Bitcoins If you are reading this because you have received a Casascius Physical Bitcoin product that says "casascius. What is a two-factor Physical Bitcoin? How is this possible? How do I order a two-factor physical bitcoin? You gave me a "confirmation code".
What is this for? I have a two-factor Casascius Physical Bitcoin piece but don't know the passphrase.
Can I redeem the funds? I have a two-factor Casascius Physical Bitcoin piece. How do I redeem the funds?