U.S. Constitution Finds a Home on Bitcoin Blockchain: 44.4KB of History

In a surprising twist, the entire text of the U.S. Constitution has been permanently inscribed onto the Bitcoin blockchain. This occurred on May 28th at 8:25 p.m. UTC, when an anonymous actor broadcast a transaction carrying the full document at a size of 44.4 kilobytes. The transaction carried a fee of 113,454 satoshis, around $83.41, processed quickly by the mining pool SpiderPool just 14 minutes after hitting the network.

What's remarkable here isn't just the technical feat of embedding such an extensive document into the blockchain, but also what it signifies for Bitcoin's broader potential. The Bitcoin blockchain has long been viewed as a ledger for financial transactions, but this act of inscribing the Constitution, a foundational political document, suggests a broader horizon. The addition made use of Bitcoin Core v30, which lifted previous limitations on data size for the OP_RETURN field, allowing for this monumental storage of text.

But here's the thing: this isn't just about showing off tech capabilities. It's a statement about durability and the unchangeable nature of blockchain records. The Constitution, written in full, now exists in every Bitcoin node scattered across the globe. It's not just a piece of code. it's a statement about permanence and the distribution of historical data in a way that's never been quite possible before. However, not everyone is on board with this kind of use. There's a proposal, BIP-444, being discussed in the Bitcoin community to reinstate the old limits, arguing that it undermines Bitcoin's identity as a monetary network.

So, who's winning here? For those who see Bitcoin as a platform for free speech and data integrity, this is a win. It stretches Bitcoin beyond mere monetary calculations into the world of timeless information storage. Yet, for the purists who believe the blockchain should remain a financial network, it poses a challenge. This inscription is a moment of reflection. Hard money outlasts soft promises, but does Bitcoin's promise extend beyond currency to history itself?