--- title: "SpaceX Flying Bitcoin Bounty to Moon, Where Anyone Can Grab It If They Can Get There" description: "The crypto platform LunarCrush will be stowing a bounty of 62 Bitcoin on the Moon, currently worth around $1.5 million — and it's completely up for grabs." date: "2023-04-01" modified: "2023-04-01" authors: - name: "Frank Landymore" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-bitcoin-moon" categories: - "Astronomy" - "Bitcoin" - "Blockchain" - "Cryptocurrency" - "Future Society" - "Moon" - "Space" - "SpaceX" tags: - "bitcoin" - "crypto" - "the digest" - "the moon" --- # SpaceX Flying Bitcoin Bounty to Moon, Where Anyone Can Grab It If They Can Get There ![The crypto platform LunarCrush will be stowing a bounty of 62 Bitcoin on the Moon, currently worth around $1.5 million — and it's completely up for grabs.]() *\Image: Futurism\* ## Bitcoin Booty Ahoy swashbuckling spacefarers: if you're hunting for off-world treasure, look no further than the Moon. As [spotted by *Gizmodo*](), the crypto company LunarCrush says it'll be leaving a bounty of 62 Bitcoin near the lunar south pole that's completely up for grabs. So in theory, any adventurer daring enough to hitch a ride to the Moon can snatch up the booty for themselves, which hopefully will still be worth anywhere near the purported $1.5 million it's valued at now (don't necessarily [count on ]()[that](), though). The sticker price won't even come close to the exorbitant travel expenses for getting there and back, but hey, it's the novelty that counts, right? The goal of this stunt is to "inspire people to build communities that will unlock a new era of exploration," according to LunarCrush CEO Joe Vezzani. "It's like Willy Wonka's 'golden ticket' for the Web3 era, and we couldn't be more excited to see how it all unfolds," he said in a [press release](). Uh yeah, sure. The bounty is called Nakomoto\_1, named after the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin — but it's not actually some space-shielded hard drive with Bitcoin sitting in it. Instead, it's merely a key to a private crypto wallet, engraved on a hidden portion of a lunar rover called the Mobile Autonomous Prospecting Platform, or MAPP, which is decidedly less cool than unearthing a real treasure chest. ## Actual Mission The MAPP rover, however, isn't there just to be a glorified crypto receptacle, and it certainly doesn't belong to LunarCrush — that's way out of the platform's budget. A creation of the space company Lunar Outpost, its real purpose is part of [Tipping Point](), a NASA-backed campaign to get private companies to flex their tech in space in the hopes of furthering commercial spacefaring capabilities and infrastructure, which includes having [Nokia set up the first 4G network on the Moon](). The rover and its crypto bounty will be brought to the Moon aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch scheduled for June. Once it's there, MAPP will deploy around the lunar south pole, where it will be used to test Nokia's wireless network for two weeks. Once the mission's over, the rover will simply be abandoned, at which point it and its bounty will be at the mercy of any motivated off-world crypto bros. As of now, LunarCrush is still trying to raise funds for the bounty by selling NFTs, so you might want to hold off until LunarCrush can put its money where its mouth is. **More on crypto:** *[It Turns Out FTX and Alameda Owe Margaritaville a Staggering Amount of Money]()* ## Author At Futurism, my work has often centered on bringing a sense of clarity and insight to complex topics ranging from the regulation of emerging technologies to the esoteric ideologies of Silicon Valley executives, while striving not to lose the poetic sense of awe inspired by often-obscure fields like astrophysics and quantum computing. I broke the story of CNET using AI to produce articles that turned out to be riddled with factual errors and plagiarism — a dam-breaking inflection point, as I've reported, that's inspired copycats and endless discourse while beguiling stakeholders ranging from tech giants to purveyors of spam around the web. My work at Futurism has been cited by publications including CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, Vice, Gizmodo, Engadget, the Verge, and Vanity Fair. I grew up in locales ranging from India to China, and now live in the exotic suburbs of Virginia. In my free time, I'm an avid reader of weird sci-fi literature, an aficionado of East Asian cinema, and, regrettably, a relapsed gamer. Allegedly, I’m working on a debut novel, currently untitled. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()