A collector redeemed over $10,000,000.00 worth of Bitcoin from a Casascius Bitcoin gold bar purchased for $500.00 in 2012.

On July 2nd, Cryptoslate reported that a collector claiming to be John Galt on the Bitcoin Talk forum redeemed over $10,000,000.00 worth of Bitcoin from a solid gold Casascius Bitcoin bar purchased for $500.00 in 2012. Casascius physical Bitcoins, first minted by Mike Caldwell in 2011, are among the most iconic collectibles in cryptocurrency history. These bars and coins, embedded with real $BTC, range in face value from 0.1 $BTC to 1,000 BTC. Each Casascius Bitcoin is a collectible coin with real Bitcoin embedded inside. Each 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 transmitting service. Nevertheless, the monetary and historical value of the coin continues to rise. According to casasciustracker.com, over 10,000.00 Casascius coins have been redeemed to date, with over 18,000.00 still in use or unclaimed. [深潮 TechFlow]