A collector bought a Casascius Bitcoin gold bar for $500 in 2012 and redeemed more than $10 million in Bitcoin

PANews reported on July 2 that according to Cryptoslate, a collector who calls himself John Galt on the Bitcoin Talk forum redeemed more than $10 million in Bitcoin from a solid gold Casascius Bitcoin bar purchased for $500 in 2012. Casascius physical Bitcoin was first minted by Mike Caldwell in 2011 and is one of the most iconic collectibles in the history of cryptocurrency. These gold bars and coins embedded with real BTC range in value from 0.1 BTC to 1,000 BTC. Each Casascius Bitcoin is a collectible coin with real Bitcoin embedded inside. Each one has its own Bitcoin address and is printed with a redeemable "private key".

However, production of the coin ceased in 2013 after the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) classified Caldwell's business as a money transmission service. Despite this, the coin's monetary and historical value continues to rise. According to casasciustracker.com, more than 10,000 Casascius coins have been redeemed to date, with more than 18,000 still in use or unclaimed.