A closer look
Leave it to crypto bros to invent a purely digital, trustless currency and immediately desire a shiny metal object to hold in their hands. In 2011, Mike Caldwell created Casascius coins: physical brass tokens with a real Bitcoin private key hidden under a tamper-evident hologram sticker. It was the ultimate ironic collision of numismatics and cypherpunk ideology. Today, these loaded novelty coins are highly sought-after collectibles, primarily because peeling a sticker to access a digital fortune is objectively hilarious.






