Two long-dormant Casascius physical Bitcoin collectibles — each loaded with 1,000 BTC — were activated on Friday, releasing more than $179 million that had been locked away for over 13 years. On-chain records indicate one coin was minted in October 2012 when Bitcoin traded near $11.69, and the other in December 2011 when Bitcoin was about $3.88. The older coin’s theoretical return since minting is roughly 2.3 million percent, excluding the original minting cost.
Casascius pieces were produced by Utah entrepreneur Mike Caldwell between 2011 and 2013. Each coin or bar housed a paper private key concealed beneath a tamper-evident hologram and represented a specific Bitcoin denomination, ranging from 1 BTC up to 1,000 BTC. According to available records, only 16 of the 1,000 BTC bars and six 1,000 BTC coins were ever created, making these items extremely rare.
Caldwell ended production after receiving a letter from FinCEN that raised concerns he might be operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business. Despite that, the physical coins remain coveted collectibles: the first person to reveal the private key by breaking the hologram redeems the on-chain Bitcoin value, after which the physical object no longer carries on-chain value.
Redeeming a Casascius coin doesn’t automatically mean the BTC will be sold on the market. Collectors often move redeemed funds to hardware wallets for security and convenient access rather than immediate liquidation. For example, an owner of a 100 BTC coin who goes by “John Galt” transferred his coins to a hardware wallet for easier access but said he had no immediate plans to cash out.
