Rare $1.78 Million Physical Bitcoin Activated After 12 Years of Silence

On June 4, according to CoinDesk, a rare Casascius physical bitcoin from 2011-2013 was activated on Wednesday. Its holographic tamper-evident label was peeled back, and the 25 BTC stored within (worth approximately $1.78 million) were transferred to a new wallet. Casascius coins were created by software engineer Mike Caldwell and came in denominations of 0.5, 1, 5, 10, 25, 100, and even 1000 BTC. Each coin had the receiving address printed on the front, with the private key hidden beneath a tamper-evident holographic label on the back. Holders could reveal the label and import the private key to use the bitcoin at any time, but this action would destroy the coin's collectible value. Caldwell ceased production at the end of 2013 after the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network informed him that he was operating an unlicensed money transmission business. Casascius coins with intact holographic labels hold a special status in the collectibles market, combining the value of the bitcoin face value with a collector's premium. This redemption comes at a time when activity in long-dormant bitcoin addresses is frequent. Yesterday, a 2011 wallet transferred 35 BTC after 15 years of dormancy.