Summary
- A wallet associated with a Casascius Physical Bitcoin was activated for the first time since its inception in 2011.
- This wallet contained 25 Bitcoin, accessible through the private key embedded in the physical coin.
- Casascius coins, produced between 2011 and 2013, have Bitcoin values that range from 0.1 to 1,000 BTC.
A 15-year-old asset was brought to life when a physical coin containing the private key for a Bitcoin wallet was activated on-chain on Tuesday, enabling its owner to access approximately $1.78 million in Bitcoin.
This collectible belongs to the Casascius Physical Bitcoins series and held a private key that unlocked a wallet with 25 BTC, which was valued at under $100 when it was issued in December 2011, as per data from Casascius Tracker.
Created by Bitcoin developer and enthusiast Mike Caldwell, these physical coins were intended to act as a proof-of-concept and a conversation starter about Bitcoin, according to the coin's official website.
Each coin is equipped with its own Bitcoin address and features a private key concealed beneath a tamper-evident hologram that must be peeled back to access the key, thus allowing the owner to retrieve the associated Bitcoin.
🪙 CASASCIUS COIN REDEEMED — S1-COIN-25 (25 BTC face) redeemed for 25.0000 BTC ($1.78M)
A physical Casascius bitcoin from the 2011-2013 mint has been peeled and the private key swept on-chain.
Address: 1tLPQwd6wjvZpreivwHsEuU2ceSv6zaon
Also in our DB: Noah Doe #38977 ·…— Galaxy Research (@glxyresearch) June 3, 2026
What began as a means to discuss Bitcoin has evolved into a sought-after collectible that can hold significant value, especially given Bitcoin's substantial appreciation over the years.
Casascius coins that remain unredeemed, which can range from 0.1 BTC to 1,000 BTC, are currently available at a premium on secondary markets like eBay. Even coins without any Bitcoin allocation can fetch hundreds of dollars.
The recent redemption pertains to the “Series 1” batch of 25 Bitcoin, which consisted of 345 coins in total. As of now, 236 of these coins have been redeemed, making this the latest addition to that tally.
Although the rate of coin redemptions has been increasing over time, it still falls short of the peaks witnessed at the end of 2017 and early 2018, when Bitcoin first approached the $20,000 mark.
In October, when Bitcoin soared to its peak price of $126,080, 46 coins were redeemed, valued between 0.5 and 25 BTC, translating to around $3.15 million for the most valuable coin at that time.
In the previous month, at least one 25 BTC coin was redeemed, and three more such coins were exchanged at the end of April.