Redemption cards have long been used by card manufacturers to promise autographs, relics or even game-worn memorabilia to be fulfilled at a later date.
But one collector found a redemption promising a reward unlike nearly anything else found in a pack of cards from GameStop: One Bitcoin.
Each pack originally cost $32.99.
A GameStop customer found 1 Bitcoin in a trading card pack. pic.twitter.com/J2Ths0V0hj
— GameStop (@gamestop) September 17, 2024
The collector posted the redemption on Reddit last month, but it only went viral Tuesday when the official GameStop X account posted a screenshot of the post.
“You have found a cryptocurrency redemption card,” reads the front of the redemption found in a pack of 2022 Cardsmiths Currency Series 1.
The price of Bitcoin was as high as $48,000 and as low as $16,500 in 2022, when Series 1 was available. The price has fluctuated around $60,000 for the past few months.
This isn’t the first time a collector was able to find digital currency on cardboard, as a collector previously pulled another one of the Bitcoin redemptions from the card set at a GameStop back in March.
At the time of the first find, Tonyk.com, the company behind the card set, said in a release: “This recent find serves as a testament to the unique appeal of Cardsmiths' Currency Trading Cards, which offers collectors an opportunity to explore the ever-evolving world of finance and economics while featuring an industry-first cryptocurrency redemption program.”
It’s believed that around five Bitcoin were available in Series 1. The company is currently selling boxes of Currency Series 3 cards for $34.99 on its website.
Though the collector posted the redemption on the r/Currencytradingcards subreddit in August, the new owner, who has not immediately responded to requests for comment, said he or she had been holding the card in a binder for “a while” before deciding to scratch off the part of the card which revealed the redemption reward.
According to the Reddit post, the collector had opened around a dozen boxes from the set. After finding the redemption, they followed the instructions on the card to redeem the Bitcoin, which involved submitting the code and personal information on the Cardsmiths website.
The company then sent the collector a wallet to deposit the Bitcoin, which, according to an updated post from earlier this week, has yet to occur.
GameStop’s involvement in the pull comes amid the company’s shift toward the trading card world, best exemplified by its recently announced buyback program, in which retailers will pay cash for certain PSA-graded cards.
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct.