Re: casascius and other physical bitcoins is a fraudulent idea
Following a good will Casascius apparently opened the pandora box. Now people are really believe that the sealing proves that the physical bitcoin is secure. But of course it is not. A producer of a physical note or a coin can copy and preserve the private key. This situation is so strange. I bet that if this hysteria wouldn't decline we will face a wave of fraud associated with a physical pseudosecured coins in a future.
It would be better if Casascius spend the same amount of effort populating the idea that only self printed paper wallets are secure. Every such cold storage obtained from a second party as a present, gift or a payment should be immediately transferred to the safer wallet because private key could be copied and preserved by a grantor. Tamper-evident seal in this case doesn't provide the needed level of security because the private key could be copied before the sealing was applied on a coin.
Shame on you Casascius
It would be better if Casascius spend the same amount of effort populating the idea that only self printed paper wallets are secure. Every such cold storage obtained from a second party as a present, gift or a payment should be immediately transferred to the safer wallet because private key could be copied and preserved by a grantor. Tamper-evident seal in this case doesn't provide the needed level of security because the private key could be copied before the sealing was applied on a coin.
Shame on you Casascius
Casascius has had options for a long time to purchase 2 factored coins, in which trust in not necessary on the customer's part. Casascius has ever been a stalwart supporter of this community and Bitcoin. He has done more to further Bitcoin and its advancement than few others. Look at nearly every news story, every Reddit post, they feature his coins. He has given the non-technical person something the wrap their head around in terms of bitcoin. As a prop, they have been invaluable to me when explaining it to others.
Money is not his main objective, never was.
This is just my opinion, and why I personally never bothered with the 2 factor coins when purchasing from him.