Hi,
I am not expert, just an enthusiast, but would you mind OP explaining the fake news in the article?
Thanks,
I would love to see more physical / loaded bitcoins, but not really seeing much, hence I am wondering what is the reason.
Thanks!
"Regulations Have Ruined the Physical Bitcoin Industry
this board is proof that's not true but of course you know thisAs bitcoiners celebrate the 10th anniversary of Satoshi’s invention, veteran enthusiasts will be aware that a lot has changed since the early days. One business that was once incredibly popular is the art of manufacturing loaded physical bitcoins. Government regulations have forced operations to cease, causing the physical bitcoin minting business to virtually grind to a halt.
It's important to remember all governments and their laws are different, and this is a worldwide hobby.
I can speak for the US and they (FinCen) never forced anyone to stop making coins "loaded" with cryptocurrency..they simply told makers (Mike Caldwell/Casascius being the big one here) that if they wanted to continue they had to establish a money transaction license. They did not say "close shop now, never again, or jail" In fact, Casascius continued to sell non-funded coins for a short time after the FinCen orderAlso read: 8 Crypto Debit Cards You Can Use Around the World Right Now
Manufacturing Loaded Physical Bitcoins Is a Lost Art
Not long after Bitcoin was launched, people managed to create paper wallets and soon the concept of physical bitcoins was born. After that, individuals took the idea to another level and minted metal bitcoins were created. Casascius coins quickly became a collector’s item with these shiny keepsakes loaded with digital currency. However, after Mike Caldwell, the creator of Casascius coins, started selling his physical bitcoins loaded with whole units or fractions of BTC, he was shut down by the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). The U.S. regulator considered minting Casascius coins illegal money transmission and Caldwell had to stop selling loaded coins.
Again, they did not shut him downSince then a number of other manufacturers have attempted to sell loaded bitcoins to investors who may find numismatic value in these physical collections.
"Attempt" is to try.. many vendors did, are, and will continue toRegulations Have Ruined the Physical Bitcoin Industry
This Casascius coin funded with 1BTC sold for $28,700 on Ebay a year ago on Jan. 13, 2018. At the time of sale, 1BTC was worth $14,300.
From 2013-2016, physical bitcoins were extremely popular and demand for these coins has remained robust among collectors. Some rare Casascius coins have sold for more than 4-10X their loaded value. In the early days there were so many physical bitcoins that cryptocurrency proponent Elias Ahonen managed to author an entire encyclopedia of physical bitcoins. In recent years, however, the art of molding loaded physical bitcoins is all but lost. Companies like Ravenbit, Alitin Mint, Cryptmint and Titan Bitcoin have all gone out of business.
Alitin Mint didn't go out of business, they exit-scammed countless bitcoins, CryptMint is still producing, Titan may or may not be..I'm not sure anyone really knows, and Ravenbit was a short run project which never "loaded" their coins directly. Coduced in 2018. Similarly, the cryptocurrency firm BTCC launched its own physical bitcoin forge and ended its operations in October 2018.
Bobby Lee the founder of BTCC sold the company but provided some “oversight” for the operations of the final batch of coins (while no longer an employee), which were only a few denominations and one metal type. Things ended after this first and last release from new ownership. The team did an awful job, sending many collectors rolls of coins in cheap flimsy plastic wrap which allowed for countless orders to be damaged. The release was met with furry from many collectors big and small and the new company ownership said no thanks, we'll stick to our core business from now on and no more coins/chips etcRegulations Have Ruined the Physical Bitcoin Industry
Loaded Titan Bitcoins. The physical bitcoin manufacturer Titan is no longer in business.
Bobby Lee, the co-founder of the company, explained to his Twitter followers how BTCC Mint’s physical bitcoin sales in China touched record highs before it closed operations. The mint did manage to produce a 2018 series, which is still available to U.S. customers through a company called Rogue Bitcoin.
Rogue has closed and was very short lived In fact, there are plenty of physical bitcoins for sale on secondary markets as third parties have managed to hoard these coins and sell them for a profit. On Ebay, and many other auction and e-commerce websites, there are plenty of Casascius, Satori, Titan, and BTCC loaded coins. However, collectors will find that prices are way higher than what the coin was sold for originally and well above what it holds digitally.
The author is starting to paint the picture he's unhappy with the coin prices. They also seem to not realize coin collecting is often this way for low mint, highly collectible items. As well as after ebay and paypal rob you of fees, that's an extra 15% or more hit. However they also start to paint the picture for other motives for saying this as you'll see later down the articleRegulations Have Ruined the Physical Bitcoin Industry
Loaded Satori coins. The Japanese manufacturer announced this past April it had to close up shop due to the FSA’s strict regulations.
Governments Don’t Like Competing Bearer Bond Instruments
The biggest reason for most of these firms going out of business is predominately overreaching regulation.
Not true, as Casascius and Satori are really the only two who stopped producing (loaded coins) due to regulations. The U.S. government, for instance, may be okay with people exchanging cryptocurrency in a regulated manner digitally. However, issuing physical bitcoins that are loaded or any other type of manufactured bearer bond instrument that competes with the U.S. dollar is not a good idea and you could wind up in prison.
"Could wind up in prison" this is a bit over the top, as no seller of these coins has ever gone to prison. The author is being dramatic for effect here.Regulations Have Ruined the Physical Bitcoin Industry
Liberty Dollars created by Bernard von Nothaus. U.S. law enforcement said the Liberty Dollar coins were marked with the dollar sign ($); the words dollar, USA, Liberty, Trust in God (instead of “In God We Trust”); and other features associated with legal US coinage.
This can also happen to coin creators even if the products are minted without digitally loaded value inside them. On March 18, 2011, the U.S. government convicted 67-year old Bernard von Nothaus for being the monetary architect of a currency. Essentially von Nothaus’s “Liberty Dollar” operations ended immediately and U.S. Attorney Anne Tompkins did not take kindly to the creation. “Attempts to undermine the legitimate currency of this country are simply a unique form of domestic terrorism,” Tompkins explained at the time.
Why are these products even being mentioned here? The Liberty Dollar had a clear look to it that could be confused with actual USD notes and coins. It was more of a USD counterfeit money type situation here and nothing to do with physical bitcoins and seemingly only used to strengthen his narrative of over the top misinformation about this hobbyRegulations Have Ruined the Physical Bitcoin Industry
Denarium products can still be purchased from the Finland-based dealer with up to 2BTC loaded on certain coins.
This line literally contradicts the entire article to this point. Odd that he chose to list Denarium only as they are not alone in doing so what so everThere are plenty of coin makers that sell metal ‘bitcoins’ with no digital funds, but there is one company that still issues physical bitcoins that are loaded. Denarium sells a variety of pre-funded physical coins in bronze, silver, and even .999 gold. The pieces are made by a Finnish company called Prasos and private keys are covered by a tamper-resistant hologram. Some of Denarium’s products have units like 1 BTC tied to them, while with other types of coins, the customer can add a custom sum. The Denarium Custom Gold Plated 2018 piece can be loaded with fractions of BTC and up to a maximum of 2 BTC per coin.
Is this a legitimate article or a marketing piece for Denarium 
Besides Denarium and overpriced secondary markets
A statement based upon an "opinion" that is an uneducated one., finding physical cryptocurrency manufacturers who are willing to sell coins loaded, unfortunately, is now all but impossible.
End with more misinformation,e. Look around this board, not hard to see this and I would think someone who claims to be highly entrenched in the bitcoin community since 2011 could easily find out this kind of information. Easily...What do you think about the lack of physical bitcoin manufacturers in 2019? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below." (
I think you are lying and full of shit for a specific purpose in doing so as well. Also I DID let you know what I thought, as well as others, and you censored us by deleting our comments. Why Jamie? )
