The 13-year dormant Casascius physical coins transferred 2,000 bitcoins, worth approximately $180 million

Recently, two wallets associated with Casascius physical bitcoins transferred a total of 2,000 bitcoins, worth approximately $180 million, after being dormant for over ten years. These bitcoins had not been used since 2011 and 2012, when the price of bitcoin was less than $15, and now it is close to $90,000.

Casascius physical coins were created by Utah entrepreneur Mike Caldwell in 2011 and are tangible collectibles that contain embedded private keys, with denominations ranging from 1 to 1,000 BTC. Each coin comes with a tamper-evident holographic seal to protect the private key underneath. Caldwell ceased the production of pre-funded coins at the end of 2013 after being labeled an unregistered money transmitter by the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). The specific purpose of this transfer is unclear; it could be for sale, internal restructuring, or a precautionary measure to preserve access. It may also be related to the degradation of physical components, similar to a report earlier this year from a user claiming to own a 100 BTC Casascius bar who had difficulty importing the key into modern wallets after peeling off the hologram.