Bitcoin millionaire John Collins-Black has turned his lifelong fascination with the find into the biggest treasure hunt in U.S. history.
Over the past few years, the entrepreneur and self-proclaimed adventurer has hidden five treasure chests across the country, containing millions of dollars worth of valuables — from gold doubloons and rare Pokemon cards found in shipwrecks to a Michael Jordan rookie card and a physical bitcoin currently worth nearly $100,000.
The quest is accompanied by his new book, There Is Treasure Inside, a 243-page guide with the treasure trove’s origin stories, maps and puzzles designed to lead curious hunters to the loot.
“You don’t have to be a genius to solve the clues,” Collins-Black wrote, according to the New York Post. “There is no bigger cipher. If you have curiosity, imagination and a willingness to try something new, you can find the treasure I’ve hidden.”
This ambitious project has its roots in Collins-Black’s childhood in North Carolina. His father, a church pastor, once hand-built a log cabin for his mother on a piece of land gifted by a congregation. Growing up there, Collins-Black spent his days chasing lizards, catching snakes, and digging for treasure. “On pleasant nights, I would think about what I might find the next day,” he recalls. But the hours spent at the Emerald Hollow Mine, just a short distance away, left the deepest impression. There, he waded through creeks and dirt in search of hidden gems.
This early love of exploration and discovery inspired Collins-Black’s adult endeavors. After achieving financial independence through bitcoin investing and selling a self-help website, he wanted to find a treasure that would encourage others to embrace adventure and connect with nature.
The project gained momentum during the COVID-19 lockdown when Collins-Black reflected on his love of adventure. He began assembling a collection of treasures designed to appeal to hunters of multiple generations, including Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’ diamond sapphire brooch, Olympic gold medals and even a gold pendant from Picasso.
These items are housed in unique puzzle boxes commissioned from blacksmith Seth Gold, whose work draws inspiration from traditional Japanese designs. Collins-Black told The Guardian about the containers: “A treasure box that’s also a puzzle? My mind was like, ‘Phew!'”
To locate the hiding places, Collins-Black conducted extensive research, studying maps and histories of locations across the US. He hiked more than 100 miles on what he described as a “massive reconnaissance” mission to finalise the locations. None of the chests are buried or in dangerous locations; All are located within three miles of a public road and on open land.
The search is reminiscent of a similar effort by an art dealer named Forrest Fenn, who launched a treasure hunt in 2010 that attracted 350,000 participants and five deaths. Collins-Black, who learned of Fenn’s quest in 2016, also joined the search, spending several weeks in the Rockies before Fenn’s treasure was found in 2020. The discovery left him disappointed but also inspired.
Collins-Black’s search, launched this month, has already captured people’s imaginations, with participants sharing their theories and launching their own searches. He estimates it could take seven to ten years to discover all the treasures. In the meantime, he will monitor the progress from his home in the mountains west of Los Angeles, where he lives with his wife and two young children. “Kids are always digging and hiding things in the yard,” he told The Guardian. “They’re already collecting coins.”
For Collins-Black, the search is more than a game; it’s a way to evoke the same sense of wonder he felt as a boy. “A lot of people have a treasure hunter inside of them: sometimes they don’t even realize it,” he told the outlet.
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