Anonymous Investor Turns $500 into $10.6 Million with Bitcoin Gold Bar
An anonymous investor, known only as John Galt, recently moved 100 bitcoins that had been dormant in his wallet for 13 years. The private key granting access to these coins was embedded in a Casascius gold bar.
Reportedly, the wallet was acquired in 2012 for approximately $500. Today, those 100 bitcoins are valued at a staggering $10.6 million.
However, the story takes a sad turn. The investor had a portion of his coins stolen after inadvertently publishing a photo revealing the private key. This key also provided access to other Bitcoin forks, such as Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Bitcoin SV (BSV).
The Casascius Bitcoin Gold Bars
Casascius coins are among the most famous Bitcoin collectibles. Production began in 2011, when Bitcoin’s value was negligible, but ceased in 2013 after U.S. government threats to prosecute the creator, Mike Caldwell.
Caldwell released three commemorative gold bar collections: one with 100 bitcoins, another with 500, and a final one with 1,000 BTC.
In a forum post, JohnGalt revealed he had redeemed his bitcoins after holding them for 13 years.
“Remember I mentioned I had one of those Casascius Bitcoin bars? Well, it’s a 100 BTC one, bought in 2012 for about 500 bucks,” the investor stated.
“Now that it’s worth over 10 million dollars, I knew I couldn’t just sit on it anymore. So… even though I was a bit insecure, I finally redeemed it today.”
According to the investor, he had been nervous since Bitcoin surpassed the $10,000 mark in 2017, when the bar’s value exceeded $1 million.
“Holding something worth over a million dollars? It’s a lot of pressure.”
In total, 138 bars from this 100-bitcoin series were created, and only 37 remain unredeemed, increasing their resale value.
JohnGalt stated he “didn’t want to redeem” but couldn’t find a trustworthy buyer willing to make an offer.
Unlike the 1,000-bitcoin ingots containing 1 kg of pure gold, JohnGalt’s bar is made of gold-plated brass and lacks significant intrinsic value. Despite this, he received offers for the item but expressed no interest in selling.
Investor Robbed Twice After Redeeming Bitcoin Gold Bar
In addition to the photo of the bar, John Galt also posted another image showing the broken security seal, revealing the private key that granted access to his bitcoins.
The problem was that the investor was so focused on Bitcoin that he forgot this key also provided access to other cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Bitcoin SV (BSV), and other Bitcoin forks.
“I totally forgot about the forks, and someone else got there 9 minutes before me… Now they’re like 40 thousand dollars richer. I just hope they’re not dishonest or anything and that they’re really a decent person,” JohnGalt wrote.
On-chain data shows that some coins were returned to the original address. However, because the private key was exposed to everyone, the coins were stolen again by a second thief.
Ultimately, this amount is unlikely to significantly impact the investor’s life, who transformed $500 into $10.6 million, making it a minor detail in this remarkable story.
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