Physical bitcoin

[MommaB]

I have been given a physical bitcoin. I am COMPLETELY BRAND NEW to this cryptocurrency thing. What is it exactly that I am in possession of,by holding this coin?

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[hosseinimr93]

What do you mean by a physical bitcoin? Do you own a Casascius coin?
If so, you should own a private key which can be used for unlocking your bitcoin in the blockchain and spending your fund.

[Upgrade00]

Ignore the couple of messages you might be getting now offering to help you with the physical butccoin you have.

Did someone just give you what they called a "physical Bitcoin" and did not offer any advice on how you can use it?
If it's a coin with a private key or seedphrase engraved on it, you will need to import that to a wallet and sweep whatever is on it, cause you cannot be certain if that wallet is already compromised.

[Hatchy]

Well First and foremost, welcome to the world of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency at large. And I guess it's my first time hearing about the physical Bitcoin. I barley had any idea of what it is, not until now. From my research, the physical Bitcoin is a like a representative of Bitcoin and usually holds within it a private key which will give you access to the Bitcoins. Here's a quote of Bitmaxz from a similar thread. Hope it will help you a long way too.

You can redeem the BTC from your physical coin you just need to peel out the sticker on the back to find the private key.
You can use it to redeem your BTC and other fork coins but you should make sure to transfer BTC first before you import the private key to the different wallets to take other fork coins.
Watch this video guide on redeeming BTC from the physical coin.
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1yydfYJFwA

Also, I suggest you redeem the fork coins one by one and don't forget to start on major fork coins to redeem like BCH before you redeem the other fork coins.

If you want to take your fork coins on the single wallet I think you can use coinomi wallet. Look at this guide below.
- Claiming your forked coins

[BitMaxz]

If it is just a normal physical coin without a sticker on the back it is not a Casascius coin and it doesn't have a value you can just keep it as a collection.

However, if it is a casascius coin like others said above you can redeem it through the guide already posted above but I suggest it would be better to redeem it after the block halving.

[sheenshane]

Physical Bitcoin doesn't have the same value as digital Bitcoin, it depends on what kinds of materials are used.
To avoid possible scams while you're new to this crypto world, it's better to read the Bitcoin Whitepaper so that you'll understand more about Bitcoin and that isn't physical.

As above said, if that is similar to the Casascius coin, which has an amount of Bitcoin inside, you must have a private so that you can verify if that's true and transfer it into a hardware device that is safe to store Bitcoin in the long run.

[Potato Chips]

I wonder if the person who gave it informed you if your collectible has some btc's? afaik some could be empty.

In any case, are you able to find any information that looks like:

An address: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Invoice_address
A private key - https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Private_key
or a QR code?
Note: don't post your private key or any qr code you find on public

Otherwise, i think we may need to identify what kind of collectible do you have. There are different kinds of it you see: [REFERENCE THREAD] - Physical Bitcoins in the News

In this case, you could try posting a picture of what it looks like but remember to blur any sensitive information. I would also move the topic to Collectibles board (see: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=217.0) as a lot of people there are well versed on this. How to move a topic: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5265053.0

[MusaMohamed]

There is no physical bitcoin. It is designed by Satoshi Nakamoto as a digital cryptocurrency and it is encrypted by cryptography and blockchain technology.

You can print Bitcoin private key, mnemonic seed on piece of paper, carve it in metal sheet, embed it in collectibles but bitcoin is still digital, not physical.

What is the physical bitcoin which you received?

Be very careful anyone give you something physical and tell you that bitcoin is stored inside, you can deposit more bitcoin into it. If that is a scammer, he will steal your bitcoin after you deposit because that man has private key, mnemonic seed of that wallet.

Months ago Yogg scam Coldkey users.

[aysg76]

I also doubt you have something that can be backed up for some real value but if it's collectible you have received as there are many physical one's but if you ask about real bitcoin then it's available only in digital format.Think of bitcoin as coding algorithm that just adds or debit balance between different accounts without any physical base.

But we can't proceed further with discussion about it until we come to know about what you are exactly talking about or you can upload image that some user can quote to check out what exactly you are talking about.

[tvplus006]

I have been given a physical bitcoin. I am COMPLETELY BRAND NEW to this cryptocurrency thing. What is it exactly that I am in possession of,by holding this coin?

You need to formulate your question more specifically, and perhaps even provide a photo of your physical blitcoin, since it is impossible to understand what you actually own. If your physical bitcoin was bought on AliExpress, then it has no value)

[Jon_Hodl]

This is most likely a scam or a cheap facsimile of a "bitcoin" that is just a Bitcoin "B" logo on a metal coin. These are not bitcoin. In fact, these sorts of things are one of the worst things for bitcoin because they confuse new users and lead them to believe that bitcoin is somehow physical.

All that you can really do to make bitcoin physical on a coin is to write private keys in some form onto a physical coin but you wouldn't be able to send it on the blockchain without a bitcoin wallet that connects to the internet. If you have a coin with a private key (long string of numbers and letters) or a series of 12-24 words, then you can import it into a bitcoin software wallet and spend it.

[Cricktor]

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Let's assume you're in good terms with the person who gave it to you. You could ask that person about Bitcoin and what the coin means that he or she gave to you.

As you say, you're new to cryptocurrencies. If you want to learn more, there's a lot to learn. You may start here: https://learnmeabitcoin.com, it's fun there!

If it's a Casascius Coin and stil has the hologram sticker on it, don't peal it. Don't tell anybody and never post or enter a private key anywhere online, even if users here ask for it. A Casascius Coin would've a so-called minikey under the hologram sticker with which you could redeem it's denomination as long as it's still funded.
But Casascius Coins that are still funded are quite valuable. The gifter would be quite a generous person to you.

Relax and welcome to the forum and your journey in Bitcoin land. Whatever you got as physical token from whoever, don't do stupid things but rather embrace a whole new thing for you. I don't quite see an urge to get in some hurry. Read, learn and hopefully love BTC!

[nakamura12]

If the physical Bitcoin you have is not a Casascius coin then what you have doesn't have any value at all but only a coin that is created for another purpose without value and it is only use for token like coin. If the physical Bitcoin you have is what the others explained then your physical Bitcoin have value. Did the person who give you the coin told you that is has value or not?. I am surprised that you didn't ask the person who gave you that and just accepted it without asking to know about it.

[Nwada001]

I have been given a physical bitcoin. I am COMPLETELY BRAND NEW to this cryptocurrency thing. What is it exactly that I am in possession of,by holding this coin?

With you being new to the crypto space, having physical Bitcoin given to you might actually not be safe, especially if it's used to pay you in exchange for goods or services rendered to a complete stranger, as you really can't tell if the Bitcoin given to you is actually worth anything or if it's just there. As I believe there are not many physical Bitcoins that are truly encrypted with something on them, at least not in this part of the world, as I myself have not seen any unless just reading about them.
 
You can either use the suggestion given by the above members to verify if the coins actually have any private keys or phrases on them that you can easily import with a supported wallet and move those figures to a safer destination.

[YUriy1991]

I have been given a physical bitcoin. I am COMPLETELY BRAND NEW to this cryptocurrency thing. What is it exactly that I am in possession of,by holding this coin?

I think what you want to know is how much is the coin worth? in my opinion, its value is independent of bitcoin value stored in private key. If anyone wants to buy it it is because of its scarcity, similar to a movie poster or a fiat coin that is no longer in circulation and is often more expensive than BTC stored in a digital wallet. depending on the rarity, quality, materials and uniqueness.

[CryptoHeadlineNews]

It's been 2days now since O.P made this thread, and we are yet to know the kind of physical Bitcoin he/she got gifted, whether is it "Casascius coin" as "hosseinimr93" suggested or which ever we will like him to tell us, because I just made a little research and got to know that "Casascius coin" can no longer be purchased, which that alone exclude it as a possible option. But I have been thinking, what if what O.P received was a Bitcoin hardware wallet such as "Ledger & Nano", and due to his ignorance about Bitcoin, decided to call it a physical Bitcoin, as such is likely possible. What do you think?

[zaim7413]

I have been given a physical bitcoin. I am COMPLETELY BRAND NEW to this cryptocurrency thing. What is it exactly that I am in possession of,by holding this coin?

Who gave you the physical bitcoins that you mean in Op? On what basis did he give you the physical Bitcoin?
You also said that you are new to Cryptocurrency, it is impossible for someone to give you Casascius coins while you don't know how to use them. You don't explain in detail here or attach a link that can lead us to the attached image, obviously we are assuming what you mean by "physical Bitcoin".
My assumption is that you get a Casascius coin whose hologram has been damaged/has been used or a replica of a Casascius coin that is similar to the original, you are confused about the coin you just received then find out about the coin here.

[iBaba]

I have been given a physical bitcoin. I am COMPLETELY BRAND NEW to this cryptocurrency thing. What is it exactly that I am in possession of,by holding this coin?

I presume you already know that Bitcoin is primarily a digital currency. But you most probably have a physical Casascius coin with you. You could have made a description of how it looks like and that would have help us determine if it's a usable coin or just a fashioned coin.

Regardless, the Casascius coin has an embedded sticker or something like a piece of paper with digital Bitcoin value. It has a tamper-resistant sticker placed over the hologram. You should also know that if you are the first person to redeem it's private key, it's only you that will have the digital value, afterwards, the Casascius coin will have no digital value.

Please next time, make the question more detailed and specific so we can have a better understanding.

[m2017]

I hope that OP's friends only played a little joke on him with a physical bitcoin, but he didn't turn out to be a victim of scammers. From his post, too little can be understood about his history with the physical bitcoin.

It is necessary to be wary of physical bitcoin (with the exception of collectible samples, which are very expensive due to their rarity - it contain a private key to access digital bitcoin), which by its nature can't be, because bitcoin was originally created as a digital currency. That is, bitcoin can't be touched with hands, put in a pocket, which is usually practiced with traditional money. All information about bitcoin is contained in blockchain, has a digital form and is not available in the material world. Surprisingly, in reality, bitcoin is not even transferred between users, because only information in transactions about the right of ownership is transferred.

So, the phrase

I have been given a physical bitcoin.

basically impossible.

[sunsilk]

Where did you get it? If it's just like a giveaway and souvenir and doesn't have anything written on it then don't expect that there's Bitcoin inside of it.

But if there's some note and written things on it then you shouldn't entertain person that will offer help to you that will ask for those vital information.

Other than that, goes back to the first sentence I've said because I've received one in the past and it's just a souvenir and remembrance and nothing on it.