An unidentified Bitcoin user embedded a 255-byte message in block 963,629 on August 22, announcing a wallet puzzle whose private-key material was allegedly derived from Satoshi Nakamoto's Genesis Block. According to reports from Galaxy Research, the transaction was 500 bytes and paid a miner fee of 250 satoshis, equivalent to 0.60 satoshis per virtual byte. The message does not reveal the creator's identity, derivation formula, or complete solution method, with no verified evidence currently showing the puzzle was solved or that its associated reward moved.
The creator claimed to have used information from Bitcoin's Genesis Block, mined by Satoshi Nakamoto on January 3, 2009, with hash 000000000019d6689c085ae165831e934ff763ae46a2a6c172b3f1b60a8ce26f. As reported by Galaxy Research, the wallet's entropy was described as "extremely low" with the claim that "everything I needed was already in the Genesis Block," though no independent verification exists of how the wallet was actually generated. The Genesis Block contains a timestamp, nonce, Merkle root, public key, and the newspaper headline: "The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks."
The transaction was characterized as an "oversized OP_RETURN" by Galaxy Research, representing more than half the transaction's raw size. OP_RETURN allows users to create provably unspendable outputs carrying arbitrary information, with the message becoming part of Bitcoin's confirmed transaction history once confirmed. The puzzle should not be confused with the Genesis Block's original 50 BTC subsidy, as those coins remain unspendable due to Bitcoin's original implementation. The next verifiable development would be an outgoing transaction signed by the puzzle wallet's private key, which could demonstrate someone derived the correct key.
According to Galaxy Research, the on-chain message proves the message existed by the time it was published but does not independently verify the creator's claims or the puzzle's solution method. The block remains part of Bitcoin's confirmed transaction history, with independent block data confirming that Foundry USA mined block 962,639 at approximately 19:45 UTC on August 22. Until a valid spend or signed proof appears, the event remains a newly published Bitcoin puzzle built around public Genesis Block data, not a deciphered secret from Satoshi Nakamoto.
