In a twist fitting for the Easter season, a now-famous hidden message—often called an “Easter egg”—was embedded in Bitcoin’s very first block by its mysterious creator, Satoshi Nakamoto.
The message reads:
“The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks”
This line refers to a headline published on January 3, 2009, in The Times (archived), widely interpreted as a subtle critique of traditional finance and a clue to Bitcoin’s mission: creating a decentralized alternative.
You can still see the message preserved in the raw data of Bitcoin’s Genesis Block on bitcoin.it, specifically within the coinbase parameter—a unique data field that miners usually use for metadata or signatures.
Satoshi’s poetic choice gave Bitcoin a meaningful start—and gave the crypto community one of its most iconic moments.
