A rare piece of Bitcoin history has just been unlocked, and it’s worth over $10 million.
A long-time Bitcoin holder, using the pseudonym ‘John Galt’ on the Bitcoin Talk forum, has redeemed one of the rarest physical Bitcoin collectibles: a Casascius gold bar containing 100 BTC. Purchased in 2012 for just $500, the bar was finally unsealed after Bitcoin surpassed the $100,000 mark in June 2025, netting Galt a staggering 2,000,000% return.
“I couldn’t sleep well knowing a single object was worth millions,” Galt wrote in a detailed post on Bitcoin Talk. “It felt safer to split the coins than to continue holding the physical bar.”
The Casascius series, created by Mike Caldwell in 2011, is one of the most iconic physical manifestations of Bitcoin. Each coin or bar contains a tamper-evident hologram concealing a private key, allowing the owner to redeem the embedded BTC. However, production of the coins ceased in 2013 after the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) classified Caldwell’s work as operating a money transmission service.
Today, Casascius coins are prized collectibles. According to CasasciusTracker.com, only 35 of the original 100-BTC gold bars remain unopened, with unredeemed Casascius products collectively holding more than $3.9 billion in BTC.
A high-stakes unsealing
Galt’s redemption involved carefully peeling the bar’s tamper-proof hologram to reveal the mini private key. He then used tools to convert the mini-seed into a full private key and moved the BTC into 10 new wallet addresses for better security.
However, the redemption wasn’t without a hiccup. After posting the key publicly on the forum — seemingly as part of documenting his experience — he lost access to Bitcoin fork coins such as Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Bitcoin SV (BSV), and others.
Another user, ‘Nexusrushrush’, admitted to sweeping over 100 BCH (then worth around $50,000) from the address but returned them to a wallet that was already exposed and vulnerable to further sweeping. As of now, no further compensation or return has been reported.
A piece of Bitcoin lore
The redemption adds to the mystique surrounding Casascius coins. While most are held tightly by collectors, the latest move serves as a reminder of the real value — and risk — embedded in early crypto artifacts.
Experts say this also highlights the dangers of storing enormous sums on physical mediums. “Once a private key is visible, anyone can sweep the funds,” noted blockchain analyst Alex Thorn on X. “Even accidental exposure can result in total loss — especially with forked assets.”
Despite the redemption, Galt has not sold his BTC — choosing instead to retain digital custody across multiple wallets. He’s also considering auctioning the now-redeemed Casascius bar as a collector’s item, potentially fetching tens of thousands of dollars.
As Bitcoin continues to reach new highs, stories like Galt’s illustrate not only the massive wealth creation in crypto’s early days but also the precariousness of holding that value over time — physically or digitally.
