Galaxy Research Tracks Mysterious Poem Repeatedly Written to Bitcoin Blockchain
Key Takeaways
- •An unknown user has embedded 26 duplicate copies of a cryptic poem into Bitcoin transactions over the past two weeks, and the same cryptographic keys also posted another poem twice, for a total of 28 messages in 12 days.
- •Each poem was stored in a 103-byte OP_RETURN output, surpassing Bitcoin's previous default relay limit of 83 bytes, under which such outputs were treated as non-standard by default-configured nodes.
- •Galaxy Research considers traditional money laundering unlikely because the funds simply move between the sender and a custodial service, with total mining fees of just 8,015 satoshis and a single 100,000-satoshi deduction by the service on Oct. 19.
- •Suggested explanations include faking deposit metrics for a custodial platform, running an automated integration test in production, or an autonomous AI agent operating a Bitcoin wallet, though none of these theories has been confirmed.
- •If the current trend continues, Galaxy Research projects the 27th duplicate of the poem will appear about 14 hours after the 26th, a forecast that can be verified on Bitcoin's public ledger.
Galaxy Research Tracks Mysterious Poem Repeatedly Written to Bitcoin Blockchain
A cryptic poem has been surfacing on the Bitcoin blockchain for the past two weeks, according to Galaxy Research, the research arm of crypto investment firm Galaxy Digital.
The research unit reported that an unknown user has embedded 26 duplicates of the same poem into Bitcoin transactions. The mysterious poem reads: "thoughtless quartz clocks drift / blocks stack each a strict proof / timechain keeps score"
28 mystery messages in 12 days
In a post on X on Oct. 24, Galaxy Research explained that the mystery sender has been injecting the identical message into Bitcoin transactions. Each duplicate was stored in a 103-byte OP_RETURN output — an output format used to embed arbitrary data that has long served as Bitcoin's built-in channel for attaching short messages and protocol data to the ledger — surpassing Bitcoin's previous default relay limit of 83 bytes, a policy under which outputs of this size were previously treated as non-standard by default-configured nodes.
The researchers also discovered that the same cryptographic keys have been used to issue another poem twice. That brings the total number of mystery messages to 28 in only 12 days.
Motive remains unknown
The researchers have yet to determine the sender's motive. Galaxy Research said it is unlikely the activity is linked to traditional money laundering, since the funds are simply moving between the sender and a custodial service.
Across 28 deposits and 14 round trips, the researchers identified only 8,015 satoshis in mining fees — 0.00008015 BTC — along with a single 100,000-satoshi deduction by the service on Oct. 19, equivalent to 0.001 BTC.
Galaxy Research offered several possible explanations. The sender may be trying to fake deposit metrics or transaction volume for a custodial platform. The activity could also be a form of automated integration test running in production. Another possibility is that an autonomous AI agent has been given access to a Bitcoin wallet and tasked with making transactions.
The researchers were unable to confirm any of these theories. According to Galaxy Research, if the current trend continues, the 27th duplicate of the poem will appear about 14 hours after the 26th — a projection that can be checked in real time, because Bitcoin's ledger records every transaction in plain view for anyone to inspect.
For now, no one knows the mystery sender's identity or what the strange Bitcoin transactions are for.
