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)

  • Phosphor purple/magenta on a deep purple/black background
  • Animated scanline overlay across the whole viewport
  • Headers in VT323 (chunky 8-bit terminal font)
  • Body in Share Tech Mono, printed wallet in Courier Prime
  • Cannabis-leaf SVG watermark tiled at 4.5% opacity on the print
  • Hazard diagonal stripes on the private-key flap
  • Status badges: ● OFFLINE SAFE · ● CLIENT-SIDE ONLY · ⚠ GO OFFLINE FIRST

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.

  1. 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.

  1. Paste your address and WIF

Two textareas under "▶ ENTER WALLET DETAILS":

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

  1. (Optional) add a label and date

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

  1. 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

  1. 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.

  1. 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)

  1. 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)

  • Purple banner: PAPER WALLET / POTCOIN COLD STORAGE
  • 🌿 POT ✦ POT ✦ POT ✦ repeating strip top and bottom
  • Public address QR + the P-address text
  • Wallet label + date you entered
  • Smaller balance-check QR linking to the explorer
  • Cannabis leaf SVG watermark (4.5% opacity)
  • Footer: retropaper.potcoin.com | v3.6.2 | OPEN SOURCE ✦ CLIENT-SIDE ONLY

Back (folds inside)

  • Diagonal hazard stripes (red/black)
  • Banner: ⚠ PRIVATE KEY — STRICTLY SECRET / NEVER SHARE THIS KEY / CONTROLS ALL FUNDS
  • Private key QR — caption: DO NOT SCAN ONLINE
  • Full WIF text printed below the QR
  • Address echo so you can verify front matches back
  • Footer: potcoin.com | v3.6.2 | TREAT LIKE CASH — STORE COLD

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

  1. Move the file to an offline machine

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

  1. Generate keys offline (also air-gapped)

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

  1. Open the saved retropaper HTML

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

  1. 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.com retropaper.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)
Aesthetic Clean / utilitarian CRT terminal / phosphor purple / hazard stripes
Best for Generating fresh keys, batch ops Final 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.