Bitcoin Forum

Regarding Casascius Bitcoins. I know the visible numbers and letters on the back of the coin is the "public key" & that the "private key" is under the sticker. I am not planning on redeeming any tokens but I am interested in knowing the technical process for how to redeem them.

If someone has a bitcoin written out as a long sequence of numbers and letters on a piece of paper, how can that long sequence of numbers and letters be sent to an exchange or a digital wallet?

I would like a deeper understanding. Thanks!

That "long sequence of numbers and letters" is the private key of the address. Every digital wallet uses this text to sign you transactions. Without it, you cannot prove that you own the address, because you cannot provide a valid signature to the network.

AFAIK, behind a casascius bitcoin you can find a private key of a p2pkh address (starting with "1"). Example:

You can import such key to a wallet like electrum (https://electrum.org).

Steps:
1) New/Restore.
2) Name your wallet and click next.
3) Import Bitcoin addresses or private keys.
4) p2pkh:<HERE_ENTER_YOUR_KEY>
5) Click "Next"

And just like that you'll have successfully transferred your bitcoins digitally. They're ready to be spent.

This is helpful. Thank you.

You can also use other online wallets like Atomic Wallet and Exodus, there are tutorials in youtube on how to import your private key, it's easier since when you are using these wallets, you can trade your bitcoin into other assets in the same platform easily.

i believe those private keys are in a special shorter form called mini private key format that can be found here:
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Mini_private_key_format
in that case the key has to be converted to a normal WIF first then that should be imported in a wallet. casascius has some tools on github for it.

Electrum supports mini private key. Casascius's mini keys were 22 characters instead of the usual 30. Electrum will support anything more than 20 if it is valid.

It's simple to actually just do the whole process of obtaining a standard WIF yourself. Just SHA256 it and you'll get an ECDSA private key which can easily be converted into a WIF.

This is all very helpful info. I’ve bought on one occasion and have never redeemed, so I’m not a subject matter expert on the topic. If anyone has some more knowledge to share on the topic, I’m all ears and I truly appreciate it!