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📺Retro Paper Wallet

A CRT terminal–themed printable cold storage card. Pasted, not generated — pair it with the standard paper wallet generator for the keypair, then come here for a "this is serious crypto" printout. Live at retropaper.potcoin.com.

What it is (and isn't)

What it is: A render-and-print-only generator. You paste an existing PotCoin address + WIF private key and it builds a designed printable card with three QR codes, hazard-striped warnings on the back, and a fold-and-seal layout.

What it isn't: A keypair generator. There is no entropy collection, no mouse-mash, no key creation. If you don't already have a keypair, generate one first at paper.potcoin.com (Single Wallet tab) or with a CLI tool, then return here to print it.

Why a separate tool? Splitting "generate" from "print" lets you use any trusted entropy source — a hardware RNG, a vanity grinder, the standard generator on an air-gapped machine — and just bring the resulting key here for presentation. The retro generator is purely a beautiful printable wrapper.

Theme (so you know what you're getting)

End-to-end walkthrough

  1. Generate a keypair somewhere safe

    Easiest path: open paper.potcoin.com Single Wallet on an offline machine, mash the mouse for entropy, click Generate New Address. Copy the P-address and the WIF private key.

  2. Open retropaper.potcoin.com

    Right-click → Save As a single HTML file (≈206 KB, fully self-contained). For real cold storage, copy this file to an offline machine and open it from there.

  3. Paste your address and WIF

    Two textareas under "▶ ENTER WALLET DETAILS":

    • POTCOIN ADDRESS — SHARE FREELY TO RECEIVE POT
    • ◈ PRIVATE KEY — SECRET / NEVER SHARE

  4. (Optional) add a label and date

    Helps you remember what this wallet was for, when you generated it, and which series it belongs to.

  5. Click ▶ RENDER WALLET

    The preview panel updates live (also re-renders on any input change). You'll see three QR codes generate via qrcodejs:

    • qr-addr — your public address (purple, 104px)
    • qr-key — your private key WIF (red, 104px)
    • qr-balance — a link QR pointing at explorer.potcoin.com/address/<your-addr> (54px) for one-tap balance checks later

  6. Try the ⟳ DEMO button first if you want a preview

    Auto-fills one of three sample wallets. Click DEMO once to see what the printed card looks like, then clear it and paste your real keys.

  7. Click 🖨 PRINT WALLET

    The CSS @media print hides the header, input panel, and instructions — only the wallet card prints. Use:

    • USB-connected printer (no Wi-Fi/networked printers — they cache)
    • Heavy paper if possible — receipt paper fades
    • Letter size, 0.4in margins (the page presets these)

  8. Cut, fold, store

    The card has a printed dashed line: ✂ — — — FOLD & SEAL HERE — — — ✂. Cut along the outer edge, fold on the dashed line so the front faces out and the hazard-striped back folds in.

    The page's own final guidance: "Store in a zip-lock bag in a fireproof safe — treat this like physical cash."

What's on the printed card

Front (public-facing)

Back (folds inside)

Air-gapped use (recommended for real money)

  1. From an internet-connected machine

    • Visit retropaper.potcoin.com
    • Right-click → Save As → save the HTML file
    • While you're online, also save the dependencies it needs cached: Google Fonts (VT323, Share Tech Mono, Courier Prime) and the qrcode.min.js from cdnjs — or accept that fonts will fall back to the OS monospace
    • Verify the SHA-256 of the saved HTML against the published hash if available

  2. Move the file to an offline machine

    USB stick → wipe internet → boot a Linux live USB or use a clean offline laptop.

  3. Generate keys offline (also air-gapped)

    Use the offline copy of paper.potcoin.com Single Wallet tab.

  4. Open the saved retropaper HTML

    Paste the keypair, render, print to a USB-connected printer.

  5. Wipe the offline machine before reconnecting it

    Reboot the live USB session (RAM is wiped on reboot), or full-disk encrypt + reset if it's a regular install.

When to pick retro vs. standard

paper.potcoin.comretropaper.potcoin.com
Generates keys?✅ Yes (entropy collected)❌ No — paste only
Multiple wallets per page✅ Bulk, paper, vanity, brain❌ One wallet per render
BIP38 encryption✅ Yes❌ No (paste a pre-encrypted WIF if you want)
AestheticClean / utilitarianCRT terminal / phosphor purple / hazard stripes
Best forGenerating fresh keys, batch opsFinal printable presentation of an existing key
Balance-check QR on print❌✅ Yes — links to explorer
Workflow recommendation Generate at paper.potcoin.com (Single Wallet) with full entropy. Print the standard wallet for the actual cold backup. Then also render the same key at retropaper.potcoin.com for a second presentation copy you can frame, give as a gift, or hide in a different vault. Two physical copies of the same key, one in each style.
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