Two long-dormant Casascius coins backed by 1,000 Bitcoins each were activated as of Friday, unlocking more than $179 million that had been hidden for more than 13 years.
On-chain data shows that one of the Casascius coins was minted in October 2012, when Bitcoin was trading at $11.69.
The other was minted in early December 2011, when Bitcoin was worth just $3.88, and its Casascius coin had a theoretical rate of return of about 2.3 million percent, excluding minting costs.
A little history behind the Casascius coin
Cassasius coins are physical metal coins or bars created by Utah-based entrepreneur Mike Caldwell and minted between 2011 and 2013.
Caldwell plans to acquire Bitcoin and mint it into physical coins, which are considered one of the most popular physical collectibles related to Bitcoin.
Each Casacius coin contains a piece of paper embedded with a Bitcoin digital value and covered with a tamper-proof hologram. The coin and bar types were 1, 5, 10, 25, 100, 500, and 1,000 BTC.
However, Caldwell ceased operations after receiving a letter from FinCEN citing concerns that he may have been operating an unauthorized money transfer business.
How Casasius Coin works
According to some records, only 16 out of 1,000 BTC bars and 6 out of 1,000 BTC coins were ever created.
The first person to remove the holographic sticker and redeem the private key will receive the full amount of the coins. After this, the coin has no Bitcoin value.
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However, exchanging Casascius coins for their Bitcoin equivalents does not mean that a large amount of Bitcoin will flood the market.
In July, the owner of 100 Bitcoin Casascious Coins, “John Galt,” told Cointelegraph that he had moved his stash from physical coins to a hardware wallet, saying he did so to have easier access to his funds. He had no immediate plans to withdraw the cash.
“Having 100 BTC is life-changing for anyone, but the truth is that I’ve had it for so long that it was more about staying safe than suddenly getting rich,” he said.
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