Bitcoin Investor Unlocks $10 Million Fortune From 2012 Casascius Bar

A Bitcoin investor, known as John Galt, recently unlocked a significant fortune by redeeming a physical Casascius bar he had purchased in 2012. The bar, which contained 100 BTC, was bought for just $500 when the price of Bitcoin was $5 per coin. Over the years, the value of the Bitcoin held in the bar skyrocketed, making it worth over $10 million at the time of redemption.

John Galt had been holding the Casascius bar for over 13 years, and the pressure of physically storing such a high-value asset became increasingly burdensome. The risks associated with physically holding Bitcoin, including the potential for theft or damage, became more apparent as the value of the asset grew. John Galt initially hesitated to redeem the bar, feeling that an unredeemed physical Bitcoin held more value than just its monetary worth. He attempted to sell the bar multiple times, exploring various auction options, but valuation disputes and trust concerns always stood in the way.

The decision to redeem the bar came as Bitcoin’s value soared past $100,000. John Galt decided that the risk of holding a single object worth eight figures was no longer worth it. On May 13, 2025, he peeled the hologram, exposed the private key, and moved the full 100 BTC to new addresses. The transaction was confirmed on-chain and shared with the Bitcointalk community, marking one of the largest physical Bitcoin redemptions to date.

The redemption process was not without its challenges. John Galt initially tried using Electrum on Android to sweep the funds but encountered compatibility issues with mini private keys. He eventually turned to bitaddress.org to convert the mini key into a usable format and created new wallets with Trezor Suite to manually send the BTC to secure addresses. He confirmed the funds had safely moved before publicly revealing the bar’s redemption.

However, in a costly oversight, John Galt posted a photo of the Casascius key online without first claiming Bitcoin Cash (BCH), a major fork of Bitcoin. Because BCH uses the same private key system, someone watching the forum thread swept the BCH just nine minutes after the post. John Galt estimated the lost BCH to be worth over $40,000.

The crypto community responded with a mix of admiration and sympathy. Many praised John Galt’s nerves for holding through 13 volatile years, calling him a legend. Others shared fears over the risks of physical coin storage, including fire damage, adhesive failure, and floods, which could destroy tamper-evident holograms or keys. Several users noted the emotional and logistical weight of holding unredeemed coins, echoing the anxiety of storing physical assets worth millions.

Despite redeeming the BTC, John Galt confirmed he won’t sell the now-empty bar, which remains a valuable piece of early Bitcoin history. The incident highlights the complexities and risks associated with physically holding high-value cryptocurrency assets, as well as the emotional and logistical challenges of managing such assets over extended periods.

This event underscores the massive returns possible in Bitcoin collectibles, with John Galt's investment yielding a 2,000,000% return. However, the impact on broader crypto financial markets remains negligible, as such redemptions are rare and do not significantly affect Bitcoin's liquidity or price. The event has sparked discussions within the community about the value of physical Bitcoin as a collectible and historical artifact, rather than a liquid investment.

Historical redemptions of Casascius bars, including John Galt's, show that while these events can be financially rewarding for individual holders, they have minimal market-wide effects. The tiny collective supply of such collectibles means that their redemption does not cause significant market turbulence. This event is likely to foster continued interest in physical Bitcoin collectibles, but it is not expected to lead to major price shifts in broader markets.