The news site, which hinted at plans to relocate to the moon via Instagram 10 months ago, deployed its first staff member, an intern, on its lunar hub this morning.

Speaking over a garbled satellite connection, he said:

"There isn't much bitcoin here. Come to think of it, there isn't any news, oxygen or even cheese ... Maybe it's a mistake. It seemed like a good idea at the time."

Despite having to survive on a limited oxygen supply, most of the team seem over the moon about the opportunity to conquer yet another planet, or satellite – whatever.

CoinDesk's US editor Pete Rizzo counted himself among the impressed. He said the floating rock was representative of the bitcoin industry's values: "cold and lifeless and ultimately too far away from the general public to matter".