They release 2,000 bitcoins by sacrificing two rare coins after 13 years

Two physical bitcoin coins that had been dormant for over a decade awaken and release 179 million dollars in a single click. Each coin was worth less than 12,000 dollars in 2011-2012 and now moves 1,000 BTC each.

Only 6 coins of 1,000 BTC existed worldwide.

The owner of two rare Casascius coins released 2,000 inactive bitcoins. These physical collectible pieces moved funds currently valued at 179 million dollars. The owner bought them when the pioneering digital currency cost less than 12 dollars. Now, they are worth millions.

Casascius coins are physical collectible pieces created between 2011 and 2013 by Mike Caldwell in the United States. Each one contains a hidden bitcoin private key under an unbreakable hologram; as long as the seal is intact, the bitcoins remain stationary and the coin is worth its digital content plus its rarity as an object. By scraping the hologram, the BTC are revealed, transferred, and the piece becomes simple empty metal. That is why they are known as "bitcoins in the form of real coins". The Casascius coins consumed on December 5, 2025, safeguarded 1,000 bitcoins each. This is one of the scarcest variants: only 6 coins of this specific design were minted. If we add the 16 gold bars of equal denomination, there are only 22 pieces of 1,000 BTC among the nearly 28,000 physical items in the Casascius collection.

Caldwell stopped selling his pieces in November 2013 due to rules from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). That agency viewed his work as unlicensed money transmission, forcing him to close the business and turning the existing pieces into instant relics of an irreplaceable era, as they were created during the early history of bitcoin.