Bible quotation found in Bitcoin block number 666,666

A hidden Biblical message has been found embedded in a transaction in block number 666,666 of the Bitcoin (BTC) blockchain.

The message is a quotation from the sixth book in the New Testament, the Epistle to the Romans. First spotted by @emzy@bitcoinhackers.org, it reads:

“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good - Romans 12:21.”

The transaction in question saw an equal amount of Bitcoin — 432,100 satoshis ($160) — sent to two different addresses. The first several characters of those addresses contain the words “God” and “Bible.”

Whoever sent the transactions paid over $50 in fees, equating to five times more than Bitcoin’s peak average transaction fee on the day, according to Bitinfocharts.com. This implies the sender’s goal was to have their transactions, and message, included in block 666,666 specifically.

This is not the first time a hidden message has been found embedded in the Bitcoin blockchain. The most famous example is the message found in the first block ever mined, known as the “genesis block.”

“The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks.”

A follow-up was staged amid the first phase of the United States Federal Reserve's money-printing spree in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 crisis. Block number 630,000 revealed the following message:

“NYTimes 09/Apr/2020 With $2.3T Injection, Fed’s Plan Far Exceeds 2008 Rescue.”

Implanting messages in the blockchain has become a common occurrence in recent years. Previous messages have come in the form of marriage proposals, poetry, eulogies and general profanity.