Blockchain Magnetic Card Wallet Creation Tool

Edited: 18 May, 2021

Project Description

Encode an entire public & private keyset to a magnetic card. A simple way to store a blockchain wallet data in magnetic cards (like the ones in your real wallet). This is an application that encodes your BitCoin (or orther crypto-coin) public and private keys onto a magnetic card for safe keeping or for use by vendors. You can use this application with an MSR605 card reader to read and write blockchain encoded cards. Legal Documentation: ./LICENSE

Requirements

• A MSR605 magnetic card reader / writer (or an equivilent device).
• One or more standard 3-Stripe magnetic cards.
• Python 3+

Authors

• Liam Hogan - [email protected]
• Damien Bobillot - [email protected]
• Manwinder Sidhu - [email protected]

Installation & Run

      # Clone
      git clone https://github.com/bentbot/Blockchain-Card.git
      cd Blockchain-Card

      # Start the GUI
      python ./GUI.py

      # Install serial if needed
      pip install serial
 
      # Update the serial port line in ./GUI.py:12
      SERIAL_PORT = '/dev/cu.usbserial-142430'

Hardware Description

The MSR605 is a card reader/writer, it writes to the standard magstripe cards that most people are used to using (Credit Cards, Debit Cards, pretty much any card with a colored stripe on the back). I purchased mine on ebay. I choose to buy this card reader because it had good documentation and drivers online.

In this project I use the magcard to store address data in raw encoded form. Magcards can only accept a specific number of bytes on each stripe. Each stripe is different. Some stripes only accept numerals while others accept all alphanumeric characters. This application converts the two provided keys into data formatted to fit on a magcard.

REMEMBER: In no way is this method secure. Anyone that scans your magcard can read your private key.

File Description

• GUI.py - the graphical interface that allows you to encode keys.
• msr.py - the library that connects to the card reader (MSR605).

Using Alternative Card Readers

Replace the connection line, "msr.msr(SERIAL_PORT)" in GUI.py line ~197, with your new library. Update each function to with equivalent function in your new library. Important references:

• read_tracks GUI.py: 263
• write_tracks GUI.py: 313,334