Bitcoin Money

In Stock Now - Casascius Physical Bitcoin

The latest incarnation of a physical bitcoin comes from Casascius.  Similar to BitBills, the secret code needed for spending the coin is secured underneath a tamper-evident hologram (an “opened” code is shown below)

Physical bitcoins make it possible for the currency to be acquired by those who are non-technical and those who don’t trust that they can protect their own bitcoins held in their Bitcoin wallet on their own computers.

Physical bitcoins can be treated similar to other coins as until the hologram seal is broken, the ability to spend the funds stored in the coin are passed along each time the coin changes hands — it is a bearer instrument.  This makes it possible for Bitcoins to be purchased with the intention of giving them as gifts or for use as an investment where they tucked away in a secure place along with other valuables.

The security protections to design and produce this item causes it to have costs that might not yet make it suitable for use in commerce.  Though a merchant would likely accept the coin at its 1.0 BTC face value, that value is at least 20% less than the cost to purchase this coin.  It is possible that larger production runs will bring the costs down to where the acquisition cost becomes relatively insignificant.

According to the announcement in a forum post, the website where these will be sold is still under development but initial orders may be placed by directly contacting the vendor. Casascius.com is now open.  The site will also provide an easy method for the bitcoin to be spent (redeemed) though tools are available to enable redemption even without the participation from the vendor.

[Update: These may now be ordered online at Casacius.com]

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