[REFERENCE THREAD] - Physical Bitcoins in the News

[Steeley]

PHYSICAL BITCOIN ARTICLES IN THE PUBLIC

This thread is created to record links to articles in the news that specifically address the subject of physical bitcoins. There seems to be some interest in the forum around what the general public knows about this subject and if awareness of physical bitcoins is gaining momentum. This is not comprehensive, but hopefully it will serve as a reference where people can quickly find physical bitcoins in the news. For anyone that wants to add to the reference, just post a link in this thread and I will eventually add it it the main body. I am organizing the links by year published.

There is another excellent thread on this forum that has an even more comprehensive magazine and newspaper list than what is below. I encourage you to check it out as well. Thanks to Crypto_Collection and Agrawas for this good work:
[REFERENCE] Magazines & Newspapers with Bitcoin Articles (Pre 2009 - 2019) https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5148433.0

2024

1. Physical Bitcoin Worth Over $1M Presented at Auction Houses
https://cryptonews.net/news/bitcoin/28674805/

2. More auction news. This article has a link to a youtube video "World's Most Valuable Coin"
https://www.ccn.com/news/physical-bitcoins-stacks-bowers-auction/

3. How Do Physical Bitcoins Work - Article says that Coins were a premature step the world wasn't ready for
https://cryptohead.io/how-do-physical-bitcoins-work/


2023

1. 10 Years of Storing Bitcoin Using Art - Kialara Article
https://thebittimes.com/kialara-project-celebrates-ten-years-of-storing-bitcoin-using-art-tbt40776.html

2. March 2023 Stacks Bowers Auction
https://coinweek.com/auction-news/stacks-bowers-sells-700000-in-bitcoin-physical-cryptocurrency/

3. The Litecoin Halving, Bobby Lee, Charlie Lee, and a PCGS Slabbed Ballet Wallet
https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2023/07/31/as-litecoin-halving-approaches-founder-touts-silver-collector-cards-loaded-with-digital-silver/

4. A thorough explanation of Physical Bitcoins from a Canadian Publication
https://blog.netcoins.com/identifying-authentic-physical-bitcoins-how-to-check-if-its-real/

5. Can you buy Physical Bitcoins?
https://bitcoinfoqus.com/physical-bitcoins/

6. Casacious, Lealana and Polymer Bit in the News - Sold at Auction
https://www.numismaticnews.net/world-coins/physical-cryptocurrency-sells-big-at-auction

7. BITMEX send a Physical Bitcoin to the Moon, A replica auctioned at Bitcoin Conference
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/bitmex-to-send-physical-bitcoin-to-the-moon

8. First Bitcoin to the Moon
https://www.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/physical-bitcoin-is-on-track-for-a-moon-trip-this-summer-3086767

9. Coin Update mentions a Stack's Bowers Auction
https://news.coinupdate.com/bitcoins-and-physical-cryptocurrency-featured-in-the-stacks-bowers-galleries-spring-2023-auction/

10. Casascius Bitcoin Peels Bitcoin.com
https://news.bitcoin.com/casascius-bitcoin-peels-10m-cashed-in-2023-yet-a-1-billion-stash-remains-unclaimed/

11. in preparation for an auction of many Casascius coins, Heritage put out this article
https://coins.ha.com/information/physical-cryptocurrency.s

12. Alitin Mint Co-Creator Dies Mysteriously
https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-millionaire-onfo-coin-creator-dead

13. This was an attempt to highlight great Physical Bitcoins, only the author has no understanding of the subject and features many coins with scam controversy
https://bitcoinnews.com/bitcoin-collection-variety-of-physical-bitcoins/

14. PCGS Article about Casascius: Pizza Day Forever? Yes, Please
https://www.pcgs.com/news/pizza-day-forever-yes-please

15. PCGS Article about the massive Auction of Casascius Coins on GreatCollections
https://www.pcgs.com/news/casascius-bitcoin-sells-at-greatcollections

2022

1. 4k sells rare 1 btc Casascius
http://symbianone.com/2022/01/rare-1-btc-casascius-coin-nft-sells-for-350-above-peel-value-on-the-4k-marketplace/

2. Mexican Senator displaying his BTCC coin on Twitter
https://twitter.com/IndiraKempis/status/1487570916766883847?s=20&t=qV-UvyZ62l5DNIyr0mT-ug

3. Physical Bitcoins: What's the Deal? Crypto Platform explains what they are to investors
https://currency.com/physical-bitcoins

4. Stacks Bowers at it again with 4 Lealana Coins to Auction
https://www.stacksbowers.com/News/Pages/Blogs.aspx?ArticleID=physical-bitcoins-stacks-bowers-galleries-march-2022-auctions

5. 250 Casascius Redeemed in last 6 months and more Casascius stats
https://news.bitcoin.com/close-to-250-casascius-physical-bitcoins-were-redeemed-in-6-months-1-9b-in-btc-remain-active/

6. Stacks Bowers Features Physical Bitcoins again
https://www.greysheet.com/news/story/bitcoins-and-physical-cryptocurrency-featured-in-the-stack-s-bowers-galleries-june-2022-auction

7. Physical Bitcoins, What's the deal?
https://currency.com/physical-bitcoins

8. Elias Ahonan listed as top 10 clear communicators of Blockchain
https://readwrite.com/blockchain-speakers-who-make-it-easy-to-understand/

9. Historic Stacks Bowers Auction mentioned by Graysheets
https://www.greysheet.com/news/story/over-a-half-million-in-bitcoins-and-cryptocurrency-sold-by-stack-s-bowers-galleries

10. 250 Casascius peeled
https://news.bitcoin.com/close-to-250-casascius-physical-bitcoins-were-redeemed-in-6-months-1-9b-in-btc-remain-active/

11. Article in Indian Publication Explaining Physical Bitcoins
https://news.bitcoin.com/regulations-have-ruined-the-physical-bitcoin-industry/

12. Back in my day it was a simpler time - Nice testimonial of someone first buying a Casascius
https://www.somethinginteresting.news/p/back-in-my-day-it-was-a-simpler-time

13. CNBC Article - What is a Physical Bitcoin
https://www.cnbctv18.com/cryptocurrency/what-is-a-physical-bitcoin-and-what-is-its-worth-13188452.htm

14. From the PCGS Grading Room
https://www.pcgs.com/news/from-the-pcgs-grading-room-physical-crypto-tokens

15. What is a Casascius Coin?
https://www.analyticssteps.com/blogs/what-casascius-coin

16. Casascius Coins Confiscated in Silk Road Sting
https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/us-attorney-announces-historic-336-billion-cryptocurrency-seizure-and-conviction

17. Which Which Crypto Box Promotion
https://www.nrn.com/quick-service/which-wich-superior-sandwiches-launch-crypto-box-meal-available-only-april-29
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hungry-for-a-taste-of-cryptocurrency-which-wich-superior-sandwiches-to-launch-a-crypto-box-meal-available-only-on-april-29-301530030.html

2021

1. Lealana sells for a nice 500% premium
https://coinweek.com/recent-articles-video/lealana-0-1-bitcoin-sold-for-nearly-500-premium-in-stacks-bowers-auction/

2. Regulations Have Ruined the Physical Bitcoin Industry
https://news.bitcoin.com/regulations-have-ruined-the-physical-bitcoin-industry/
This article was filled with questionable material and rebutted heavily in Bitcointalk.org
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5205726.msg53218272#msg53218272

3. Stacks Bowers offers their first Physical Bitcoin at auction - Lealana .1 BTC BF Black Silver
https://www.stacksbowers.com/News/Pages/Blogs.aspx?ArticleID=lealana-physical-bitcoin-november-2021-showcase-auction

4. Will Bitcoin Eat the Numismatics World? (Have to go down to point #2 of this opinion piece to see the material on physical bitcoins).
https://news.artnet.com/opinion/metaverse-art-gold-cas-munger-le-corbusier-2031306

5. 25 BTC Casascius sells for $49,100 premium
https://coinweek.com/auctions-news/casascius-bitcoin-sells-for-1-69-million-at-greatcollections/

6. $2 Billion Worth of Unpeeled Casascius Physical Bitcoins: There's Less Than 20,000 Coins Left Active
https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&url=https://news.bitcoin.com/2-billion-worth-of-unpeeled-casascius-physical-bitcoins-theres-less-than-20000-coins-left-active/&ct=ga&cd=CAEYACoUMTA1OTY2NDgyMDc2NDczMzU3OTQyHDJlZWVmNDE5YTZiOTE3M2Y6Y29tOmVuOlVTOkw&usg=AFQjCNH2sqTm1Owrvp6pU042suTd7O7T6w

7. Physical bitcoins: What’s the deal?
https://currency.com/physical-bitcoins

8. 10 Physical Bitcoins: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
CoinDesk takes a closer look at the world of physical bitcoins in all price tiers and flavours.
https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2014/09/14/10-physical-bitcoins-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/

9. Jose San Martin Physical Bitcoin Issued by Ripio in Argentina (in Spanish)
https://vivo247.com/tras-el-adios-al-billete-de-5-san-martin-tendra-su-bitcoin/

10. Kialara: The Art of Storing Bitcoin
https://www.swomag.com/the-art-of-storing-bitcoin/

11. Kialara: Bitcoin's place in the world of Art
https://www.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/kialara-bitcoins-place-in-the-world-of-art-2446426

12. What’s With All The Photos Of Physical Bitcoins? Are Those Real?
https://www.plainenglishcrypto.com/physical-bitcoins/

13. Bitcoin gets physical: Art or digital heresy?
https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/2021/01/17/bitcoin-gets-physical-art-or-digital-heresy?utm_source=mc_one_minute_letter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=0452117797&utm_term=536a3519ae

14. Everything You Need To Know About Physical Bitcoins: The A-Z Guide to the most controversial Bitcoin storage. Medium Article
https://medium.com/the-capital/everything-you-need-to-know-about-physical-bitcoins-ceaab58f18c6

15. How to buy physical Bitcoins - Como comprar monedas fisicas de bitcoin
https://www.sinmiedoainvertir.com/como-comprar-monedas-fisicas-de-bitcoin/

16. 1000 Cas story with TMZ - Also Notice the 1000 BTC Cas coin is graded MS70 by PCGS
https://www.tmz.com/2021/10/06/bitcoin-gold-cas-crypto-million/

Lealana Coins Auctioned by Stack's Bowers
https://www.coinbooks.org/v24/esylum_v24n52a26.html

2020

1. Will Physical Bitcoins Have a Comeback and Threaten Bitcoin’s Inflation Control?
https://zycrypto.com/will-physical-bitcoins-have-a-comeback-and-threaten-bitcoins-inflation-control/

2. Only 20,000 Casascius bitcoins left unspent
https://news.bitcoin.com/424-million-numismatic-value-only-20000-casascius-bitcoins-left-unspent/

3. Everything you need to know...
https://medium.com/the-capital/everything-you-need-to-know-about-physical-bitcoins-ceaab58f18c6

4. High Number of Casascius Coin Redemptions
https://cryptonews.net/news/bitcoin/428991/

5. This is not an Article BUT I had to include an interview with Mike Caldwell on You Tube!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBUD7tPiDQ4

2019

1. 1 BTC Cas sells for $100,000 on Ebay
https://btcmanager.com/physical-bitcoin-btc-sold-ebay-100000/
& https://coindoo.com/rare-physical-bitcoin-auctioned-on-ebay-for-almost-100-000/

2. The Master List of Collectible/Wallets/NFTs/New by ChiBitCTy
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5124662.msg50317188#msg50317188

3. Governments do not like competing bearer bond instruments
https://news.bitcoin.com/regulations-have-ruined-the-physical-bitcoin-industry/

4. The History of Casacious Coins
https://www.altcoinbuzz.io/bitcoin-and-crypto-guide/the-history-of-casascius-physical-bitcoin/

5. Regulations Have Ruined Physical Bitcoins
https://news.bitcoin.com/regulations-have-ruined-the-physical-bitcoin-industry/

2018

1. 1 BTC Cas (ANACS MS-65) sells for $28,700
https://bitsonline.com/2011-casascius-bitcoin-28700/

2017

1. The Rug Pull of Alitin Mint
https://www.vice.com/en/article/qkmj3x/the-great-physical-bitcoin-robbery

2016

1. BTCC
https://www.newsbtc.com/news/bitcoin/btcc-launches-limited-edition-titanium-physical-bitcoin/

2015

The World's First Multisig Physical Bitcoin
https://bitcoinist.com/denarium-introduces-worlds-first-multisig-physical-bitcoin/

2014

1. Sol Noctis
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/technical/sol-noctis-coins-as-the-first-collectible-bitcoins-1416243198

2. Ravenbit Review
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/technical/a-review-of-ravenbit-the-diy-physical-bitcoin-1408521825

3. Titan BTC's Cold Storage - Tim Fillmore interviewed and promises 110% return on losses
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/technical/reviewtitanbtc-1408510803

4. Numismatics of the Future
https://austinlloydinc.com/blogs/news/new-numismatics-early-coins-and-the-prospect-of-blockchain-rarities-coinage-to-crypto-3

5. Chinese Bitcoiner Made Pure Gold Physical Bitcoins
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ericxlmu/2014/07/21/chinese-bitcoiner-made-physical-bitcoin-in-pure-gold/?sh=4507138520c4

6. Man Scammed on Bitcointalk (be careful out there)
https://time.com/4287/bitcoin-scam-costs-wisconsin-man-150000/

2013

1. New Liberty Dollar Silver QR Coin Obtains Live Bitcoin Prices
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/new-liberty-dollar-silver-qr-coin-obtains-live-bitcoin-prices-1375749407

2. Hackers Crack Casascius Coins
https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2013/08/13/defcon-hackers-crack-physical-bitcoin-casascius-coins/

3. Great article on Mike Caldwell and Casascious
https://www.wired.com/2013/12/casascius/

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[Steeley]

I had hoped that the Lealana auction would generate more articles in the news. It did a little, but it seems it is still very early in regards to the public's understanding of bitcoin.

Anyway, this list is updated. If you ever come across a good mention of physical bitcoins in the news, please put the link below and I will add it.

Peace
Steeley

[ChiBitCTy]

Nice list!  Here’s what I have found that’s in my thread. I will add your link to my thread if you don’t mind?

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5124662.msg50317188#msg50317188


Coin Desk- https://www.coindesk.com/10-physical-bitcoins-good-bad-ugly

CoinTelegraph- https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/2021/01/17/bitcoin-gets-physical-art-or-digital-heresy?utm_source=mc_one_minute_letter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=0452117797&utm_term=536a3519ae

Bitcoin.com- ( Propaganda )- https://news.bitcoin.com/regulations-have-ruined-the-physical-bitcoin-industry/   (Rebuttal)-   https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5205726.msg53218272#msg53218272

zycrypto.com- https://zycrypto.com/will-physical-bitcoins-have-a-comeback-and-threaten-bitcoins-inflation-control/

[Steeley]

Nice list!  Here’s what I have found that’s in my thread. I will add your link to my thread if you don’t mind?

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5124662.msg50317188#msg50317188


Coin Desk- https://www.coindesk.com/10-physical-bitcoins-good-bad-ugly

CoinTelegraph- https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/2021/01/17/bitcoin-gets-physical-art-or-digital-heresy?utm_source=mc_one_minute_letter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=0452117797&utm_term=536a3519ae

Bitcoin.com- ( Propaganda )- https://news.bitcoin.com/regulations-have-ruined-the-physical-bitcoin-industry/   (Rebuttal)-   https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5205726.msg53218272#msg53218272

zycrypto.com- https://zycrypto.com/will-physical-bitcoins-have-a-comeback-and-threaten-bitcoins-inflation-control/

Thanks ChiBitCty! I added all these to the top. great additions.

[Steeley]

This thread will continue to add anything that is in the news regarding Physical Bitcoin Collectibles. At some point for someone it may be helpful to have these in one place.

The creation of the futures ETFs for Bitcoin has made it harder to find news on physical bitcoins because now a fund holding bitcoins is considered a 'physical bitcoin fund' (i.e. GBTC). This took our collectibles definition hostage in searches and probably makes it more confusing for newcomers to bitcoin.

Steeley

[Remsjack]

Hi there! Great topic, thank you for this!

I don't know if this has its place here, but just in case:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5383649.0

[Steeley]

Hi there! Great topic, thank you for this!

I don't know if this has its place here, but just in case:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5383649.0

It fits. Adding this to the list.

Many thanks Remsjack. Great addition

[Steeley]

Bumping - this helps me manage this thread; Easier to find it when I add something.

I will say that watching articles over time leads you to a feeling that there will be a day in the sun for physical bitcoins when demand skyrockets.  Right now it seems so early in the public's understanding of what a Bitcoin is. let alone what a physical coin/collectible/wallet that holds BTC or others crypto is in relation to it all. It seems reasonable that if self custody grows then the 'ah ha' moments for what a physical bitcoin is will take off.


Stats taken from Earthweb.com

Key Cryptocurrency Statistics 2022
There are currently 300 million people using crypto worldwide
Bitcoin is posted about on social media every three seconds
Bitcoin increased in value by 66% between February 2021 and October 2021
There were more than one million Ethereum transactions every day in 2020
The top 10 cryptocurrencies make up 88% of the total market value
Confidence in cryptocurrency was nearly 100% as of January 2021
There are more than 12,000 different kinds of cryptocurrency
There are more than 200 crypto exchanges
46 million Americans have invested in Bitcoin
Bitcoin has a coin cap of 21 million

How Many People Use Crypto in 2022?
According to cryptocurrency statistics, in 2022 it is estimated that the average ownership rate of cryptocurrency was 3.9%, which means that there are more than 300 million people using cryptocurrency around the world.

There are also more than 18,000 companies choosing to accept cryptocurrency as payment for their product or service.

[Steeley]

A bump with some stats from Bitinfocharts

Transactions last 24h(in blockchain per day)      393,285
Transactions avg. per hour                                   16,387
Bitcoins sent last 24h                                           292,627 BTC ($8,528,928,845) 1.50% market cap
Bitcoins sent avg. per hour (last 24h)                   12,193 BTC ($355,372,035)
Avg. Transaction Value                                   0.7441 BTC ($21,686)
Median Transaction Value                                   0.0034 BTC ($100.54)
Avg. Transaction Fee                                           0.000045 BTC ($1.3) 0.00000017 BTC/byte
Median Transaction Fee                                   0.000016 BTC ($0.473)
Blocks Count                                                   801,390 (2023-08-02 14:30:14)
Reward Per Block                                           6.25+0.1335 BTC ($186,053.61) next halving @ block 840000 (in 38610 blocks ~ 262 days)
Reward (last 24h)                                           925+19.76 BTC ($27,535,934.66)
Average Fee Percentage in Total Block Reward   2.08%
Difficulty                                                           52.328 T next retarget @ block 802368 (in 978 blocks ~ 6 days 20 hours)
Hashrate                                                           383.362 Ehash/s +5.45% in 24 hours
Bitcoin Mining Profitability                                   0.0718 USD/Day for 1 THash/s
Top 100 Richest                                                   2,868,558 BTC ($83,607,167,636) 14.75% Total
Wealth Distribution Top 10/100/1,000/10,000 addresses   5.79% / 14.75% / 32.89% / 55.59% Total
Addresses richer than 1/100/1,000/10,000 USD                   40,650,939 / 17,028,070 / 7,316,799 / 2,098,618
Number of unique (from or to) addresses in 24h   873,612
100 Largest Transactions last 24h:                       147,247 BTC ($4,291,657,577) 50.32% Total

[owlcatz]

This site is pretty cool too if you're into real time stats and estimations and such... So many interesting tidbits to go through lol

https://bitcoin.clarkmoody.com/dashboard/

[Cyrus]

Not sure if it fits, but worth being in a list of sorts: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5363368
Air date looks to be 2022 if you look at this post.

[tread93]

What a great thread to stumble upon. I just read a great deal about those liberty dollars that the FED and Justice dept went after the maker, and also someone scamming a Cass coin by using a chemical to take the adhesive off of the sticker without messing up the void covering 😳 I had no idea that had been done 10 years ago. Just have to make sure you triple check those seals for tampering on any physical bitcoin if you bought them off the secondary market

[Steeley]

This site is pretty cool too if you're into real time stats and estimations and such... So many interesting tidbits to go through lol

https://bitcoin.clarkmoody.com/dashboard/

Wow, this site is awesome. Glad you posted here in this thread.