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There are less than 20,000 coins active – Bitcoin News

While bitcoin is getting scarcer every day, the most popular physical bitcoins produced by Mike Caldwell from 2011 to 2013 have become far more scarce than their digital counterparts. As of September 2021, there are fewer than 20,000 active bitcoins from Casascius’ physical bitcoin collection.

Casascius’ physical bitcoin collection is becoming scarcer

Bitcoin has become a well-known technology and in the early years a number of people and companies introduced concepts called “physical bitcoins”. Essentially, a group or individual would create a coin with the Bitcoin symbol engraved on it, and the coin would also keep digital BTC hidden inside the coin.

It is safe to say that the Casascius physical bitcoin collection created by Mike Caldwell is the most popular collection to date, and these rare physical bitcoins sell for much more than the face value of the digital bitcoins they hold.

Casascius bitcoins have a holographic tamper-proof sticker on one side of the coin, and when the sticker is peeled off, the digital bitcoin’s private key is revealed. Caldwell made both coins and bars containing charged bitcoins (BTC), creating Series 1 (1-1,000 BTC), Series 2 (0.5-500 BTC + the DIY storage bars), and Series 3 ( 0.5-1 BTC).

$ 2 billion worth of unshelled physical Casascius Bitcoins: fewer than 20,000 coins leftMike Caldwell’s physical Casascius bitcoins have gained significant collector and numismatic value, well above the face value of the digital bitcoins loaded on these coins or bars.

Unfortunately, the US government forced Caldwell to stop minting Casascius bitcoins with loaded BTC. At the end of Caldwell’s tenure, during which he was producing these coins, he managed to mint around 27,920 Casascius Bitcoins with various increments of charged BTC. Over the years, the owners have redeemed the charged value of these Casascius Bitcoins in a process known as “peel”.

$ 2 billion worth of unshelled physical Casascius Bitcoins: fewer than 20,000 coins leftImage via casasciustracker.com on September 18, 2021.

On December 23, 2019, Bitcoin.com News reported that a 100 BTC gold bar had been withdrawn or redeemed. This means that the BTC digital value was issued by the owner and the physical bar is blank and there is no digital value left. Ten years after the first Casascius Bitcoins were minted, fewer than 20,000 are still active with charged BTC.

19,920 physical Casascius Bitcoins need to be peeled off

According to statistics from casasciustracker.com, there are around 19.92,000 active Casascius bitcoins waiting to be withdrawn on September 18, 2021. So far, 8,009 coins or bars have been redeemed in the last ten years and there are still around 43,000 BTC worth over 2 billion US dollars unshelled.

$ 2 billion worth of unshelled physical Casascius Bitcoins: fewer than 20,000 coins leftImage via casasciustracker.com on September 18, 2021.

48,169 BTC worth $ 2.3 billion was spent through the peeling process. Additionally, there are some lucky owners who have yet to peel 1,000 BTC bars or coins worth $ 48 million based on today’s exchange rates. For example, of the six 1,000 BTC Series 1 Casascius Bitcoins, only 2 have been redeemed so far.

In the same series, Caldwell minted 16 1,000 BTC bars and so far 87.50% or 14 bars have been redeemed. 81 Series 2 100 BTC coins (valued at $ 4.8 million each) have been minted by Caldwell and to date 47 coins or 58.02% of the BTC from this minted set have been redeemed.

Today, Casascius’ physical Bitcoin collection has achieved significant numismatic value and the coins and bars are considered coveted Bitcoin collectibles. Even shelled Casascius bitcoins are still worth, and some of them sell for $ 1,999 (for a 2012 piece). A loaded physical Casascius silver bitcoin at 0.1 BTC ($ 4,834) from 2013 is selling for $ 20,000 today. A rare, uncharged set of 125 physical Casascius aluminum bitcoins sells for $ 4,995.

Tags in this story

100 BTC bars, 1000 BTC bars, 20,000 Casascius coins, Bitcoin, Bitcoin economy, BTC, Casascius, Casascius bars, Casascius coins, coins, cryptocurrency, digital currency, loaded coins, Mike Caldwell, nostalgia, numismatic value , physical bitcoins

What do you think of the fact that fewer than 20,000 Casascius Bitcoins are active today? Let us know what you think on this matter in the comments below.

Jamie Redman

Jamie Redman is the News Lead at Bitcoin.com News and a Florida-based financial tech journalist. Redman has been an active member of the cryptocurrency community since 2011. He has a passion for bitcoin, open source code and decentralized applications. As of September 2015, Redman has written more than 4,900 articles for Bitcoin.com News on the disruptive protocols emerging today.

Photo credit: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, casasciustracker.com

Disclaimer of liability: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement for any product, service, or company. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author are directly or indirectly responsible for any damage or loss caused or allegedly caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on the content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

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