I wonder how inclined people are going to be to trust coins with private keys embedded now after that fella cleaned out all of the coins he minted.
There is a risk of course, but simply owning Bitcoin is a risk in itself with potentially:
- someone hacking your computer and stealing BTC from you
- an exchange gets hacked
- something happens to the bitcoin network
- a bug is exploited in the code
- a software/mobile wallet gets exploited
- someone manages to crack private keys
- electricity cuts off near some of the big mining facilities (China, Iceland, etc), quake, volcano, act of god, provoking a chance for a 51% attack or instability
- an attack that cuts off some or all undersea internet cables specially the ones between China and the rest of the world (51%)
- North Korea attacking South Korea but one of their dodgy nukes sets off in the middle of China by mistake
- governments making BTC illegal
- and I could go on and on...
The above is not going to be the most popular list of Bitcoin security features nor will win a prize for most positive outlook.
I apologise for even mentioning them but I'm trying to make a point.
The "fella" (Coinographic) is the only one I know who did what he did. And he may not even be the last one...
There are hundreds of physical coin manufacturers so far and 1 out of hundreds misbehaving makes the chance of one or more of the scenarios above happening similarly close.
To be honest some are even more interested in Coinographic coins now after the fact than before, they were great looking coins and now they are also "infamous."
Some of them are really rare how do you know in 20 years they may even be worth more than if they were funded?
I do agree that what he did was nasty and to be able to betray people in such a manner means his life must not be a very happy one.
Also many physical bitcoins are DIY coins or unfunded, they are mainly collectibles.
The ones you can fund or come funded are from very respectable community members, again, never say never.
I like collecting physical Bitcoins, it's really good fun considering there's quite a few people here who all share the same passion.
It is a small community but we respect each other, can talk about coins for hours, enjoy trading, bidding on, raffling on and exchanging them.
To be honest this makes Bitcoin even more fun and interesting, at least for me. Some do it to make a little profit between buying and selling them, some just collect them.
Do I worry about PrivateKeys? Only have few funded coins... If I lose them it's not the end of the world, as much as if I lost my savings, stocks, pension fund, because a bank, company or a country defaults.
Will I be pissed off? Most likely. Is that risk going to stop me from doing what I like? Most unlikely.
At the end of the day, life goes on nevertheless, we are humans, social beings we like what we like because we do, can't really explain why someone likes collecting coins and someone else likes jumping off a plane, skydiving. I love Bitcoin, it is as risky as many other forms of value exchange are, if I can have a good time while living my life with a smile on my face and enjoy what I do I will, no matter what.
PS: Owning bitcoin or physical bitcoins (funded) carry more or less the same risk IMHO. Be safe, do your research, and don't risk more than you can afford to lose, and you should be just fine.