Mike

Galaxy

Bitcoin

when

Partner

Once upon a time, there was a man who thought it would be cool to give&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Bitcoin</a> (BTC) a physical form.
That was Mike Caldwell. He created <a href="https://www.casascius.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Casascius coins</a>, which were physical metal tokens with real Bitcoin value embedded into a tamper-evident hologram sticker stuck on the token.
Currently, Caldwell is a Managing Partner at Utah-based&nbsp;Casascius Capital LLC.
Issued in a range of denominations and materials, from solid brass 1 BTC coins to gold-plated 100 BTC savings bars, Casascius coins were a novel form of cold storage in the years before hardware wallets came into the picture.&nbsp;
But&nbsp;Caldwell suspended sales on November 27, 2013 after the United States Financial Crimes Enforcement Network&nbsp;(FinCEN)&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wired.com/2013/12/casascius/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">determined</a> he was operating as an unlicensed money transmitter.
Now one of those physical Bitcoins&nbsp;just got cracked open after more than a decade.
<a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/markets/analyst-says-2026-2027-will-see-meat-of-money-printing" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Related: Analyst predicts 'meat' of money printing will benefit Bitcoin</a>
<h2 id="how-is-a-casascius-coin-redeemed">How is a Casascius coin redeemed?</h2>
As per the official Casascius website, redeeming a Casascius coin is a straightforward but irreversible process. The owner must first physically peel the tamper-evident hologram on the back of the coin, which reveals the private key on a card embedded inside.&nbsp;
The hologram leaves behind a honeycomb pattern when removed, which is a permanent indicator that the coin has been accessed.
Once the private key is exposed, the owner imports it into a Bitcoin wallet client, which then locates and claims the Bitcoin from the peer-to-peer network.
For coins issued with two-factor encryption, the private key must first be decrypted using the owner's original passphrase before it can be imported and the funds claimed.
<figure><img src="https://www.thestreet.com/.image/c_fit%2Ch_675%2Cw_1200/MjIzODMwNDk0MzIyNjMyNjY4/mike-caldwell.jpg" height="675" width="900">
 <figcaption>
 Mike Caldwell in April 2013. 
 <a href="https://www.gettyimages.in/detail/news-photo/mike-caldwell-of-casascius-makes-bitcoins-at-his-home-in-news-photo/166642332?adppopup=true" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">George Frey/Bloomberg via Getty Images</a>
 </figcaption>
</figure>
<h2 id="physical-bitcoin-s-private-key-unlocked">Physical Bitcoin's private key unlocked</h2>
A Casascius coin from the legendary 2011-2013 mint had its holographic seal removed recently, with the private key used to move funds on-chain for the first time after 12 years, according to blockchain data flagged by <a href="https://x.com/glxyresearch/status/2061972663933800635?s=20" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Galaxy Research</a>.&nbsp;
The 25 BTC inside was worth around $1.78 million, according to Galaxy Research.&nbsp;
The transaction was confirmed on the Bitcoin blockchain at block 952,159 on June 2, mined by AntPool with a fee of just $2.79.
<figure><a href="https://mempool.space/tx/8fe6260ad215d526ba4d085788e4fe0b9d6a02119e5939a09e74689dff82a554?showFlow=false" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"><img src="https://www.thestreet.com/.image/c_fit%2Ch_675%2Cw_1200/MjIzODI5OTQyOTU2MjA2MDQ0/screenshot-2026-06-04-at-12130am.png" height="675" width="880"></a>
 <figcaption>
 Details of the movement as seen on Mempool.space
 </figcaption>
</figure>
<h2 id="trending-on-thestreet-roundtable">Trending on TheStreet Roundtable:</h2>
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</ul>
<h2 id="a-physical-bitcoin-in-this-economy">A physical Bitcoin in this economy?</h2>
Blockchain data shows the owner sent a small 0.01 BTC to an external address, with the remaining 24.99 BTC returned to the original Casascius address.&nbsp;
The move suggests the owner tested the private key rather than executing a full transfer, meaning the bulk of the Bitcoin has not yet left the wallet.
The identity of the owner remains unknown.&nbsp;
The incident comes at a time when the broader&nbsp;crypto market is going through a bloodbath, with Bitcoin leading the way.
On the same day as the physical coin's redemption, Bitcoin price <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/markets/tesla-bull-drops-blunt-take-on-gold-rival" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">fell below $66,000</a> for the first time in months.
<figure><a href="https://app.decibel.trade/trade/BTC-USD" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"></a>
 <figcaption>
 BTC/USD, Decibel 
 <a href="https://app.decibel.trade/trade/BTC-USD" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Decibel</a>
 </figcaption>
</figure>
At press time, Bitcoin was trading at $65,219, down 3.3% in the past 24 hours, as per Decibel.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.coinglass.com/liquidations" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">CoinGlass data </a>showed that in the past 24 hours, the total liquidations came in at $937.53 million, with Bitcoin accounting for $351.81 million of the losses.&nbsp;
<a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/markets/analyst-who-predicted-liberation-day-crash-sends-harsh-warning" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Related: Analyst who predicted 'Liberation Day' crash sends harsh warning amid market slide</a>

Physical bitcoin worth $1.78M gets cracked open after 12 years

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