This is the updated blog about transaction #5 with Casascius. You can also find it here:
http://www.projectbitcoin.com/1/post/2014/01/sandcastles-and-casascius-coins.htmlWhen I was about five years old, I believed I could build a sandcastle that was structurally sound enough to live in. So every weekend I would beg my parents to take me to the beach, which was just a few minutes from our house.
One day, as my mother read a magazine nearby, I built a castle that not only withstood the onslaught of the waves, but that also had enough room for me to sit, lay down, and even squat inside it. I was so proud of myself, and I imagined it was the best sandcastle ever built. Then, with me still inside, the castle caved in....
It's difficult to describe what it's like to have a huge castle of sand fall on me. It's part disorienting, part suffocating, and part really heavy. I could wiggle my arms and legs just barely, and my mouth, nose, and eyes were filled with sand.
It's also difficult to explain the moment three people who didn't know me - and who would never know me - extracted me from that pile, I was staring at three faces... each responsible for me being able to take even one more breath... and then they were gone.
What I learned that day - the day all the sand fell in - is that for as long as we are alive, the right people come into our lives at the right time. It's just our job to recognize those people, and to honor them as best we can.
I made the sale for the custom leather bitcoin wallets more than a week ago. Yet it took until today for me to buy something with the .2726 bitcoins I'd earned. The reason for the delay: I'd received offers for random electronics, household item, and sporting equipment - but none of it felt.... right.
Project Bitcoin can't just be about trading whatever I find, and making as much money as possible off each transaction. That would be a waste of all of our time. For this project to work, each transaction must show off something about the bitcoin community and about the people who make it real. That is the only possible road to the house.
So on Monday, I closed my eyes and asked myself a simple question: If I could make a purchase from anyone in the world, who would it be? This doesn't happen often, but I actually heard the response: Casascius.
For those who don't know, Casascius (otherwise known as Mike Caldwell) has been a prolific contributor to the bitcoin community since 2010. In 2011, he began selling Casascius coins - metal real-world coins that contain within them an embedded slip of paper with digital Bitcoin value. His coins quickly became the "official" unofficial bitcoin collectible, and have become even more prized since sales of the 2013 coins were suspended in November.
Perhaps there are two principal reasons people seem to value Mike's coins so much. The first is that they are intricate and stunning coins made of precious metals that seem to reflect the beauty and possibility of bitcoin. Then second is that people have trusted Mike to handle many thousands of their bitcoins... he is a pillar in the bitcoin community who has earned that trust.
In my email to Mike, I asked if he'd be interested in selling me anything for the .2726 bitcoins I'd earned in the first four transactions. I didn't expect a response. I've been more or less anonymous in the bitcoin community - just a guy wanting to make a contribution in the only way he knows how (adventure!).
Mike got back to me in ten minutes...
He said he'd love to be a part of the project, and offered two silver .1 btc 2013 Casascius rounds for the .2726 bitcoins. The coins are made of 7.5 ounces of finally crafted silver and hold .1 btc on them. I accepted the offer without hesitation!
I knew it was an amazing value. But much more importantly, the coins seem to be part of an evolving story about this project. It's a story about currency changing shape...
A central bank issued (bit)coin was the center of the first two transactions. It was an important start to the project, for me, because it represented the transition from fiat currency (dollars, euros, soles, etc.) to bitcoin. The next two transactions centered around 4 custom-made bitcoin wallets that, for me, extended the metaphor. Now, our fifth transaction moves into the soul of bitcoin, two Casascius coins that are a part of a print that has only ever been purchased with bitcoin (Mike requires it), and that have bitcoin embedded within them!
So that's it! I am now the owner of the two Casascius coins... and I wish I could keep them. I've been looking at these beautiful coins online for more than a year, but I've never possessed one. But I am also excited to pass them along - to find a buyer for these coins and see if - as more transactions happen - we can't tell more stories about the people all over the world who make the bitcoin community tick, and in the process get to that house.
In the meantime, I want to extend my gratitude to Casascius for making the fifth transaction with me in Project Bitcoin. The right people always come into our lives at the right times. I've believed that for a long time now... and again it's proven to be true!
