It started with a baby.
Stéphane’s son, Eren (and yes named after Eren Yeager)was born in 2021, and during the celebrations, his mom (Chinese) gave her grandson a stack of traditional red envelopes filled with cash.
Then a crypto friend handed over another envelope, this time with a QR code full of random altcoins.
That’s when Stéphane had a thought: What if I gave Eren Bitcoin instead? But in a way that actually feels like a gift?
So he made a Bitcoin paper wallet. Printed at home. With a cute little banknote-style design. Something Eren could keep in a drawer until he’s old enough to use it.
That tiny idea became HongBaoBTC.
We’re just two people behind it. Stéphane is the Ruby dev and Bitcoin geek. I’m Salma, and I wear all the other hats.
We’re not a startup in the VC sense. We’re just two people building something we love, in between coliving projects and coffee refills.
At first it was for friends and family. Then we added AI to let people generate custom Bitcoin bills. Upload a photo, pick a style (manga, Pixar, even Satoshi bust), and print. Suddenly people were gifting Bitcoin at weddings, birthdays, baby showers... you name it.
And every time, someone tells us “This made Bitcoin feel... human.”
That’s what keeps us going. Not scale. Not hype. Just that tiny emotional spark when someone opens a Bitcoin gift and smiles.
Maybe that’s enough.