The fact that they are not much in the news anymore suggests to me that Bitcoins are here to stay. They have become part of the 21st Century economic system, albeit a more “free-standing” part. So a Bitcoin crowd-funded, one Bitcoin RepRap 3D printer kit project should not come as a surprise at all.
The 3D printer that the worker-owned cooperative start-up wants to build and sell to funders for contributions of one Bitcoin or more is a MakerFarm 8” Prusa i3. Whether this is pure coincidence or not, the regular price of one such machine on MakerFarm’s website is more or less exactly the current (as of this writing) price of one Bitcoin, that is around 660 dollars (although it is now on sale for $570).
The project, published on the BitcoinStarter crowd-funding network, wants to promote and support the growth of personal fabrication practices through 3D printing, to help build a better world and to help local communities fulfill their needs in a more efficient way.
Along with the 3D printed parts to build the 3D printer, the workers start-up is also offering a selection of 3D printed products to help finance the project and, possibly, prove their point. Three 3D printed Pokemons go for 0.075 Bitcoins (about $50), while a 3D printed ocarina is set at 0.1 Bitcoins (about $66). Not exactly a bargain but it is for a noble cause (and you can even donate anonymously through a QR code).
