In the fourth quarter of this year, Astrobotic Technology, a private American company that develops space robotics technology, will send a physical bitcoin to the lunar surface.
The space company has announced this mission on the recently held “Bitcoin 2012”, the world’s biggest event for the cryptocurrency, which was held in Miami, Florida.
The physical bitcoin will be safely planted on the moon by the company’s Peregrine Lander. The physical bitcoin will also be held by a physical wallet.
The hardware wallet was made by BitMEX, a cryptocurrency trading platform, which is also a partner of Astrobotic Technology in the mission.
Astrobotic chief executive John Thorton said: “Yes, literally bitcoin is going to the moon… We’re incredibly excited to be flying this payload to the surface and can’t wait for the mission.”
About Astrobotic and BitMEX
Astrobotic Technology is located in Pittsburgh and possesses the largest private facility in the world that is dedicated to lunar logistics.
The company manufactures landers, rovers, autonomous spacecraft, and other equipment for lunar missions. It also has its own control center that monitors and guides the payloads it sends into space.
BitMEX, on the other hand, is a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) trading platform that offers leveraged contracts that are bought and sold in bitcoin.
Will someone dare to collect the coin?
According to the mission’s official website, once the physical bitcoin is left on the moon, both companies will allow anyone to collect it and bring it back to Earth.
“The coin will remain in situ (on-site) on the moon’s surface until any enterprising soul goes to collect it,” Astrobotic said.
Image courtesy of Cointelegraph News/YouTube