I'm sure he welcomes competition.
The problem is trust. Very, very small amount of people in bitcoin are trusted as much as he is.
Of course. I appreciate how he explains how he generates the keypairs for all of his coins, and describes how he could not possibly see them. Even if he could, I trust Casascius. And yes, true about status. I have to say though, I really am surprised that no one else has attempted to make a "physical bitcoin". Surely there are plenty of people on here who are technically capable of generating keypairs in such a method that they would never see them. And there are plenty of enterprising people on here who would be happy to fund a project to get something like 1oz silver rounds made to turn into a physical bitcoin. I think it would truly have to be a collaborative effort. The problem is trust. Very, very small amount of people in bitcoin are trusted as much as he is.
About Casascius making money-he should. The bitcoin world does not need some philanthropist. I guess what I'm surprised about is how great the desire is for his coins. 2 Bitcoins for a .5 Bitcoin Coin made out of about $10 worth of silver. I tip my hat to the man.
The only thing people buy them for is because they think they'll be worth more in the future and that's been proven wrong quite a few times, lol. What's BTC at now $95.
