Suppose your grandparents have 10,000 bitcoin but have just passed away. Unfortunately, they didn’t mention private keys in their will, but they left lots of hints on how to get them. That’s the theme of a new escape room in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon.
Unfortunately, you don’t actually get 10,000 bitcoin if you escape, but you do get a fun memory and a photo on Instagram.
Escape the system
Beirut has the world’s first bitcoin-themed escape room, and the title is “Bitcoin: Escape the System.” A group of Lebanese Bitcoin fans called “Bitcoin du Liban” took up the challenge and managed to achieve the fastest escape time so far.
Said Nassar, the owner of the escape room, shared a series of tweets saying he was inspired to open the attraction to introduce Lebanese people to bitcoin and increase the acceptance of digital currency in the country. Nassar hinted at the theme of the escape room, with participants playing the role of the grandchildren of a recently deceased bitcoin HODLER.
I opened a new Escape Room in Beirut that has Bitcoin as theme, to educate Lebanese people and increase Bitcoin adoption. In the room, the players will be the grandchildren of a newly dead bitcoin hodler. pic.twitter.com/aSIMhgYY8S
— Said Nassar (@the_nassar) May 3, 2022
Wallet with 10,000 bitcoin
Nassar went on to say that the grandfather left clues for finding access to the wallet containing 10,000 bitcoin. Players have up to 60 minutes to find the 24 words that give access to the digital treasure chest and escape from the escape room. He also revealed that the grandfather had set up “many surprises and exciting things,” in addition to educational riddles about the importance of bitcoin.
Knowledge about bitcoin helps
Sooly Kobayashi, a moderator at Bitcoin du Liban, told Cointelegraph that all but one member of their group had never played an escape room before and approached the puzzles “without relying on our bitcoin knowledge.”
However, they had a slight advantage over those who are new and don’t know bitcoin at all. The themes of the escape game revolve around fiat money, the blockchain, SHA-256 (the hashing algorithm), and storing bitcoin yourself.
Learn more about bitcoin
Sooly called the escape room an example of the Lebanese Bitcoin community’s “creative approach” to Bitcoin education and growing acceptance.
“And with a history of instability, the Lebanese people are busy surviving during economic turmoil. Therefore, bitcoin education needed a creative, modern approach.”
Said Nassar, the founder, says only a few bitcoiners have played the escape room so far. He says the escape room is being positively evaluated by players with virtually no knowledge of bitcoin.
“Nobody plays this escape room without learning about bitcoin,” he said.
Lebanese pound down 92%
In 2020, we wrote a lot about Lebanon. At the time, the country was suffering from high inflation, and banks were closed, making it impossible for citizens to access their money. The value of their currency halved within a few weeks, and then there was the lockdown by Corona.
Since Jan 1st, 2020, the Lebanese pound has depreciated ~92% against the USD. The Mikati government won't stop #Lebanon's economic death spiral with a flawed deal with the IMF. The only way for Leb to establish confidence & stability is to install a #CurrencyBoard. pic.twitter.com/55uvvwPDN4
— Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) June 23, 2022
A devaluing national currency is not only bad for the financial markets but ultimately destroys the wealth and prosperity of an entire country. At the time, we wrote that bitcoin is the solution precisely for this kind of situation, and unfortunately, that advice remains relevant.
Steve Hanke shared the chart below last month, showing that the free fall of the Lebanese pound still hasn’t stopped. Since 1 January 2020, it has fallen 92% against the dollar.
When banks close and you can no longer access your money, and the national currency continues to fall, it is only to be commended that bitcoin is explained in a creative way.
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Steven Gray is an experienced cryptocurrency and blockchain journalist with over 7 years of reporting on the crypto industry across major publications. His proficiency in technical analysis provides him the skills to evaluate complex trading algorithms and AI systems. Steven leverages his extensive network of academics and finance professionals to incorporate expert opinions into his unbiased analyses.
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