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Unknown Sender Records Full U.S. Constitution on Bitcoin Blockchain

Unknown Sender Records Full U.S. Constitution on Bitcoin Blockchain

According to Bitcoin Magazine, an unknown user paid about $83 to store the full U.S. Constitution on Bitcoin via OP_RETURN, highlighting archival use cases and renewed debate over scarce block space after Bitcoin Core v30 changes.

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Fact Check
The Bitcoin blockchain transaction itself (mempool.space tx 261f3d9a...) provides primary, verifiable evidence: a 44.4 kB transaction confirmed May 29, 2026 in block 951,492 containing US Constitution text. CryptoBriefing and Bitcoin Magazine corroborate the event. The 'permanent archive' framing is accurate insofar as Bitcoin's ledger is immutable. Minor uncertainty exists around whether the inscription contains the full document or primarily the preamble (mempool summary noted preamble text in OP_RETURN, while CryptoBriefing claims the full Constitution via Ordinals); 44.4 kB size is consistent with full text. The core factual claim is supported.
Summary

According to Bitcoin Magazine, an unidentified user embedded the full text of the U.S. Constitution into the Bitcoin blockchain in a transaction confirmed at 8:25 p.m. UTC on May 28. The 44.4-kilobyte transaction paid 113,454 satoshis, about $83, in fees and was mined by SpiderPool 14 minutes after broadcast. The report says the document was stored using OP_RETURN, with SegWit and Taproot also involved, making it an early high-profile example of expanded on-chain data storage after Bitcoin Core v30 removed prior OP_RETURN limits. The event underscores Bitcoin’s use as a censorship-resistant archive while also raising questions about competition for limited block space as more non-payment data is written to the network.

Terms & Concepts
  • OP_RETURN: A Bitcoin script opcode that lets users attach arbitrary data to a transaction through an unspendable output.
  • Block space: The limited amount of data that can fit into each blockchain block, making it a scarce resource users compete to access.
  • Inscription: Data embedded on Bitcoin, often used to store text or media directly on the blockchain.