Two long-dormant Casascius coins — each backed by 1,000 Bitcoin — have been activated as of Friday, unlocking over $179 million that had been secured for more than 13 years.
Onchain data reveals that one of the Casascius coins was minted in October 2012, when the price of Bitcoin was $11.69.
The other coin was minted earlier in December 2011, at a value of just $3.88 per Bitcoin, leading to a theoretical return of approximately 2.3 million percent, excluding minting costs.
A Brief History of Casascius Coins
Casascius coins are tangible metal coins or bars created by Utah entrepreneur Mike Caldwell, minted between 2011 and 2013.
Caldwell converted Bitcoin into physical coins, which are now considered among the most coveted physical collectibles connected to Bitcoin.
Each Casascius coin features an embedded piece of paper containing a digital Bitcoin value and is protected by a tamper-resistant hologram. The coins and bars varied in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 25, 100, 500, and 1,000 BTC.
However, Caldwell halted his operations after receiving a notification from FinCEN regarding potential concerns that he was running a money transmitter business without the proper license.
Functionality of Casascius Coins
Only 16 of the 1,000 BTC bars and 6 of the 1,000 BTC coins were ever produced, according to some records.
The first individual to redeem the private key by removing the holographic sticker will receive the full value of the coin; after that, the coin will no longer hold any Bitcoin value.
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Nonetheless, redeeming a Casascius coin for its Bitcoin equivalent doesn’t necessarily imply that a significant amount of Bitcoin will soon enter the market.
In July, a 100 Bitcoin Casascius coin holder, “John Galt,” who transferred his assets from a physical coin to a hardware wallet, informed Cointelegraph that he did so to ensure easier access to his funds. He had no immediate intention of cashing out.
“Owning 100 BTC changes lives for anyone. Yet, I’ve held it for so long, so this was more about security than suddenly becoming wealthy,” he remarked.
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