Cashu introduces physical tap-to-pay card for offline Bitcoin ecash payments

An experimental NFC card stores Bitcoin-backed ecash on a chip, letting merchants accept a tap without internet and settle later Cashu wants your Bitcoin to work like a transit card. The open-source ecash protocol has introduced an experimental physical tap-to-pay card that lets users make offline payments with Bitcoin-backed ecash. The idea targets one of the oldest complaints about paying with Bitcoin at a shop counter. Lightning payments are fast, but both sides usually need to be online. Cashu’s card is built for the moment when the internet isn’t. How the Cashu card works Cashu is a Chaumian ecash protocol designed for Bitcoin and the Lightning Network. Think of it as digital cash tokens issued by a “mint,” which acts a bit like a bank vault holding the underlying Bitcoin. The new card takes those bearer tokens and stores them directly on a JavaCard chip. A wallet loads ecash onto the card, the card gets tapped at a terminal, and value moves without either party touching the internet in that moment. Merchants can accept the tap offline. Once their terminal reconnects, they settle the tokens with the issuing mint. The chip can hold ecash across up to 128 slots, which wallets fi...