BEHOLD THE MOST EXPENSIVE ‘BITCOIN’ EVER PRODUCED
The Bitcoin price highs of December 2017 made many investors rich, but none more so than the four remaining owners of a 1000 BTC physical bitcoin made of gold.
Casascius coins, which appeared in various denominations as low as 1 BTC from 2011, have become collector’s items after regulators ended their limited issuance in November 2013.
As social media commentators noted this week, the four unredeemed 1000 BTC coins – out of a total of only six ever created – now constitute the “most valuable” coins in the world.
According to a dedicated tracking tool by internet and network engineer Melik Manukyan, the owners of two of the highest-denomination coins redeemed their balance in 2013 when Bitcoin posted its highest prices to date at the time. Last December meanwhile, when BTC/USD approached $20,000, a single 1000 BTC coin together with its gold value was worth around $20 million. Even 1 BTC denominations sold for almost $30,000. “Casascius coins will one day become the most valuable items in the world. Here is a chart showing their redeem rate and increasing scarcity. About 20% has been redeemed/destroyed so far,”
