The post What is a Physical Bitcoin? Is it Worth Anything? appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

Bitcoin has grown immensely over the last decade, but some people still have reservations about investing in an asset that is completely digital. Since many investors prefer to have their valuables in a tangible form, there have been attempts to bring Bitcoin into the physical realm. In this article, we’ll explain what physical Bitcoin is and highlight the different contexts in which this term is used. Physical Bitcoin with embedded BTC value There are “Physical Bitcoin” products which are usually metal coins imprinted with all the information necessary to access BTC coins on the Bitcoin blockchain. This information is typically hidden in a tamper-proof way. Physical Bitcoins are sold in various denominations representing different amounts of BTC. There were several companies that made physical Bitcoin in the earlier years of Bitcoin, but physical BTC has fallen out of popularity recently. The most famous physical Bitcoin product was made by a company called Casascius.  Casascius Bitcoins have a private key imprinted on the coin, hidden by a hologram. This pattern changes to a honeycomb pattern if someone tries to tamper with it. On the outside of the coin, you can see the first 8 letters and numbers of the Bitcoin address linked to that coin. Throughout Casascius’s time on the market, the company produced different versions of these coins, in denominations of ₿0.1, ₿0.5, ₿1, ₿10, ₿25, ₿100, and ₿1,000. Casascius started in 2011, when Bitcoin was worth significantly less than it is today. At current prices, 1,000 BTC translates to a whopping $37.8 million.  Unfortunately for fans of physical BTC, Casascius decided to close shop after U.S. regulator FinCEN told the company that they would need to acquire a money transmitter business license if they wanted to continue their operations. Examples of other companies that have made physical BTC coins…

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Filed under: News - @ November 30, 2023 4:12 pm