LunarCrush, a company specializing in social intelligence for the cryptocurrency ecosystem, announced in late March its intention to send cryptocurrencies to the lunar surface with the aim of incentivizing interplanetary exploration. In partnership with Lunar Outpost, a planetary mobility company, LunarCrush plans to launch a lunar treasure hunt by setting the private key of a Bitcoin wallet on a lunar rover, which can only be recovered through a space trip. The wallet will contain 62 bitcoins, which currently amount to more than $1.7 million.
The Bitcoin reward, called Nakamoto_1, will be unlocked by the first space traveler who reaches the Moon and obtains the private key of the wallet, which will be engraved on a Lunar Outpost MAPP rover that will be launched into space later this year. The key will be fully documented to ensure that no one, including the organizers, has access to it. Once the rover lands on the moon, anyone on Earth can create a plan to reach it and unlock the digital gold treasure.
According to LunarCrush’s CEO, Joe Vezzani, it’s like Willy Wonka’s golden ticket for the Web3 era. LunarCrush is using modern blockchain technology to deliver a treasure instead of organizing an awards committee. This structure incentivizes exploration while unlocking the best of human ingenuity, said Forrest Meyen, co-founder and chief strategy officer of Lunar Outpost.
The lunar vehicle is scheduled to be launched on a Falcon 9 rocket from aerospace firm SpaceX, owned by billionaire Elon Musk. This initiative aims to promote interest in space exploration and cryptocurrency, encouraging people to use cutting-edge technologies to expand human knowledge and push the boundaries of what is possible.