Original｜Odaily Planet Daily (@OdailyChina)
The crypto world has never lacked investment miracles, especially with the "one true god" — BTC, where countless wealth stories have unfolded among early BTC holders. Known as "digital gold," BTC has gradually reached a price equivalent to one kilogram of gold.
Legend has it that in May of this year, a Bitcoin forum user named John Galt claimed he purchased a "physical BTC" resembling a gold bar for $500 in 2012, which contained 100 BTC assets, and successfully exchanged it for $10 million this May. Many onlookers initially thought this was just another "physical BTC joke," but after careful verification, many discovered it was indeed true.
Odaily Planet Daily will recount this 20,000-fold return investment miracle that took 13 years.
A 20,000-fold investment miracle revealed after 13 years
In May of this year, a post titled “A Sad Day for Bitcoin Physical Collectors” on the Bitcoin forum bitcointalk attracted a flurry of attention from forum users.
John Galt posted—
Yes, 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 Bitcoin's price exceeded $10,000, I started to feel very anxious. I mean, holding something worth over a million dollars? That pressure was too much.
But I didn't want to redeem it.
For me, an unredeemed physical Bitcoin felt more valuable than money itself.
I did try to sell it a few times, but it was hard to sell something so valuable, and you really can't trust anyone. I also considered auctioning it, but the value I would get would be far less than the value of the Bitcoin itself. Now that its value exceeds $10.1 million, I know I can't just leave it there. So, yes… even though I was a bit uncertain, I finally redeemed it today.
Transaction hash link: https://mempool.space/tx/118d50e57eedbdc37e55edd176b49fb561d2df45d16ac7aabb1365b66d100d43.
Sorry.
Between the lines, there is a sense of guilt and lament from a loyal Bitcoin enthusiast forced to choose between BTC and immense wealth, but between a merely commemorative "physical gold bar" and $10 million, it's likely that an ordinary person would make a more suitable choice.
Thus, a 13-year-old investment miracle, long kept under wraps, has finally been revealed to the world, and such miracles, in today's increasingly rigid traditional financial realm, can only be possessed by holding BTC. 13 years, $500, $10 million—these three numbers together constitute this "crypto wonder."
Casascius Physical Bitcoin: A short-lived "physical BTC" attempt, a crazy wealth phenomenon
It is understood that the Casascius physical Bitcoin mentioned by the user John Galt on the Bitcoin forum bitcointalk indeed exists.
The project was issued by early Bitcoin evangelist Mike Caldwell in 2011, encapsulating Bitcoin's private keys through physical stickers within a coin or gold bar. These "physical Bitcoins" were once very popular, but due to regulatory pressure, the Casascius company ceased production of embedded real Bitcoin private keys in 2013. Now, these "physical BTC" are more like rare collectibles with significant commemorative value in the long history of crypto.
Image of a physical BTC
According to data from casasciustracker.com, as of May this year, this once "reverse RWA crypto project" has redeemed about 10,000 Casascius coins, with over 18,000 still in a dormant state.
A "physical BTC" coin or bar is worth millions
It can be said that anyone who spent $500 to purchase a "physical BTC" (whether a coin or a bar) back then would have received about $10 million in returns by holding it until now. Moreover, there are still nearly 18,000 millionaires yet to be discovered, or who have already vanished into the annals of history, much like the British programmer who lost a hard drive containing the private keys to 7,500 Bitcoins.
By the way, Mike Caldwell is also an active user on the Bitcoin forum, with the username Casascius, meaning "frank." Additionally, he is an adventurer who previously buried a Bitcoin paper wallet at the North Pole in 2013, symbolically bringing Bitcoin to the ends of the Earth.
Furthermore, after John Galt revealed he held 100 BTC and redeemed the corresponding assets, a user on the Bitcoin forum quickly "stole" the BCH tokens from the early BTC holding address using its abandoned private key, valued at over $40,000. It was only after being reminded that John Galt realized he was a step too late, but his response was quite calm, as compared to $40,000, receiving $10 million was already enough to satisfy him.
John Galt remained calm
Additionally, according to crypto KOL @0xTodd tracing, these so-called "physical BTC" coins or bars are likely made of alloy + gold plating, not real gold.
Source: 0xTodd
In conclusion, this is an inspiring story rewarding the "BTC diamond hands," a wealth miracle with a return rate exceeding 20,000 times. The protagonist remains the same, still that BTC created by the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto, draped in the honor of "digital gold," with a capped supply of only 21 million coins.
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