<p>If you're asking about the Casascius Physical Bitcoins business operated by Mike Caldwell, the simple answer: it doesn't, as it has been defunct since 2013. See the <a href="https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Casascius_physical_bitcoins" rel="nofollow noreferrer">bitcoin wiki page</a>.</p>
<p>The coins he produced were sold at a markup over the included BTC amount.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-12-23T01:28:46.330Z
do you know how much?
Tiago Emanuel Pratas
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-12-23T10:11:50.367Z
@Tiago: an amount that was simultaneously too much for many buyers and too little to run a business on?
RedGrittyBrick
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-12-23T11:49:39.517Z
@RedGrittyBrick defunct because gov said stop, not because of bad business, afaiu
chytrik
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-12-23T14:55:36.327Z
@chytrik, I'd forgotten that. I guess Mike Caldwell didn't want the hassle of registering as a money services business and getting state licences. He felt he was selling collectibles rather than transmitting money. So his collectibles business was profitable. Apparently he was also concerned that at around $1000 per coin (inc 1 BTC) his cost of inventory and theft risk was getting too high.
RedGrittyBrick
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-12-23T23:25:19.420Z
It's also just a bad business in general, there's 100% absolute trust that whoever is making the "coins" doesn't retain the private key for themselves. It sort of worked when the community was tiny, but it definitely shouldn't today. Nobody should be buying and trading those coins believing that they have any value other than the metal they are made from.
Claris
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-12-23T01:02:25.243Z
2020-12-23T01:02:25.243Z
Pieter Wuille
<p>How does the Casascius business model work? Can someone explain it to me?</p>

<physical-coins>
How does the Casascius project make money?
Tiago Emanuel Pratas
# How does the Casascius project make money?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-12-23)

How does the Casascius business model work? Can someone explain it to me?

**Tags:** physical-coins


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2020-12-23. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

If you're asking about the Casascius Physical Bitcoins business operated by Mike Caldwell, the simple answer: it doesn't, as it has been defunct since 2013. See the [bitcoin wiki page](https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Casascius_physical_bitcoins).

The coins he produced were sold at a markup over the included BTC amount.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: do you know how much?  
> **username_2**: @Tiago: an amount that was simultaneously too much for many buyers and too little to run a business on?  
> **username_3**: @username_2 defunct because gov said stop, not because of bad business, afaiu  
> **username_2**: @username_3, I'd forgotten that. I guess Mike Caldwell didn't want the hassle of registering as a money services business and getting state licences. He felt he was selling collectibles rather than transmitting money. So his collectibles business was profitable. Apparently he was also concerned that at around $1000 per coin (inc 1 BTC) his cost of inventory and theft risk was getting too high.  
> **username_4**: It's also just a bad business in general, there's 100% absolute trust that whoever is making the "coins" doesn't retain the private key for themselves. It sort of worked when the community was tiny, but it definitely shouldn't today. Nobody should be buying and trading those coins believing that they have any value other than the metal they are made from.  

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