The Legendary Bitcoin Story: After 13 years, cashing in gold bars worth 10 million dollars, turning 500 dollars into 20,000 times!

Original Author: Wenser, Odaily

Original Title: "Physical BTC" is Born, A 13-Year 20,000 Times Investment Miracle

The crypto world has never lacked investment miracles, especially with the "one true god" — BTC, where countless wealth creation stories have been played out among early BTC holders. Known as "digital gold," BTC has gradually reached a price level equivalent to that of one kilogram of gold.

Legend has it that in May of this year, a Bitcoin forum user named John Galt claimed to have purchased a piece of "physical BTC" resembling a gold bar for $500 in 2012, which contained 100 BTC assets, and successfully exchanged it for $10 million this May. Countless onlookers initially thought this was just another "physical BTC joke," but after careful verification, many found that it was actually true.

Odaily will discuss this 13-year 20000 times return investment miracle in this article.

A forum post reveals a 13-year long 20,000-fold investment miracle

In May of this year, a post titled "A Sad Day for Bitcoin Collectors" on the Bitcoin forum bitcointalk sparked a rush of attention from forum users.

John Galt posted - Yes, do you remember I mentioned I had a Casascius bitcoin bar? Yes, it was a 100 BTC one, and I got it for about $500 around 2012. A few years ago, when the price of bitcoin went over $10,000, I started to feel very nervous. I mean, holding something worth over a million dollars? That’s too much pressure. But I didn’t want to cash it out. For me, an unredeemed physical bitcoin feels more valuable than money itself. I did try to sell it a few times, but it’s hard to sell something so valuable, and you really can’t trust anyone. I also considered auctioning it off, but the value I would get would be far less than the bitcoin itself. Now its value is over $10.01 million, and I know I can’t just leave it sitting there. So, yes... even though I was a bit uncertain, I finally redeemed it today. Transaction hash link:

Between the lines, there is the guilt and lament of Bitcoin loyalists who have had to choose between BTC and immense wealth. However, between a "physical gold bar" that holds only commemorative significance and 10 million dollars, I believe the average person can make a more suitable choice.

Since then, an investment miracle that had been sealed for 13 years has finally been officially revealed to the world. In today's increasingly rigid traditional financial sector, only those who hold BTC can possess such astonishing fortune. 13 years, 500 dollars, 10 million dollars, these three numbers together constitute this "crypto wonder."

Casascius Physical Bitcoins: The Short-Lived Attempt of "Physical BTC," A Crazy Wealth Creation Spectacle

According to reports, a user named John Galt on the Bitcoin forum bitcointalk mentioned that the Casascius physical Bitcoins are indeed a reality. This project was launched in 2011 by early Bitcoin evangelist Mike Caldwell, encapsulating the private keys of Bitcoin in a coin or bar through physical stickers. These 'physical Bitcoins' were once very popular, but due to regulatory pressure, the Casascius company stopped producing coins embedded with real Bitcoin private keys in 2013. Now, these 'physical BTC' are more like rare collectibles with significant commemorative value in the long river of cryptocurrency history over the past decade.

Physical BTC physical image

According to data from casasciustracker.com, by May of this year, this once "reverse RWA crypto project" has redeemed about 10,000 Casascius coins, and there are still more than 18,000 coins in a dormant state.

A "physical BTC" coin or gold bar is a millionaire.

It can be said that anyone who spent 500 dollars to purchase 1 "physical BTC" (whether it was a coin or a bar) back then and held onto it until now would have gained approximately 10 million dollars in returns. Moreover, there are nearly 18,000 millionaires who remain undiscovered or have long since disappeared into the corners of history, just like the British programmer who lost a hard drive containing the private key for 7,500 bitcoins.

By the way, Mike Caldwell is also an active user of the Bitcoin forum, and his username is Casascius, which means "bluntly." In addition, he is an explorer who previously buried a Bitcoin paper wallet at the North Pole in 2013, symbolically bringing Bitcoin to the ends of the Earth.

In addition, after John Galt revealed that he held 100 BTC and had redeemed the corresponding assets, a user on the Bitcoin forum quickly "stole" the BCH tokens from an early BTC holding address using its abandoned private key, worth over $40,000. It was only after being reminded by others that John Galt realized he was a step too late, but his response was quite calm; after all, compared to $40,000, obtaining $10 million was enough to make him very satisfied.

John Galt remained calm

In addition, according to crypto KOL @0x Todd's sourcing tracking, these so-called "physical BTC" coins or bars are most likely made of an alloy + gold-plated, rather than being made of actual gold.

Source: 0x Todd

In the end, overall, this is an inspiring story that rewards "BTC diamond hands," a wealth miracle with a return rate of over 20,000 times. The protagonist remains the same, still that BTC, created by the mysterious person Satoshi Nakamoto, adorned with the honor of "digital gold," with a capped supply of only 21 million coins.