Another crazy day in the Bitcoin world and it has nothing to do with price this time. For the Bitcoin tribe, each transaction can tell a story, and yes, there are people monitoring Bitcoin transactions daily. It was so that developer Mononaut spotted a very strange transaction indeed. He initially blamed it on Bitcoin developer @0xB10C for the latter to swiftly deny any association with it.
Some hours later, freelance dev Super Testnet provided an analysis of what he thought was 0xB10C’s weird bitcoin transaction. The transaction is identified by the hash b10c0000004da5a9d1d9b4ae32e09f0b3e62d21a5cce5428d4ad714fb444eb5d and is certainly a unique one. This particular transaction does a lot of interesting things, exploiting various features, and anomalies of the Bitcoin network. Here’s a deep dive into its many facets.
Non-Standard Address
One of the most intriguing aspects of this transaction is its use of a non-standard Bitcoin address, “bc1pfeessrawgf“, which contains only 2 bytes. Standard Bitcoin addresses are typically 20 bytes long. This non-standard address should appear as plain text “non-standard” on most Bitcoin explorers.
However, the transaction’s author exploited a bug in mempool.space‘s address parser to make it look like a valid but incredibly short SegWit address. This clever manipulation shows the importance of rigorous validation in blockchains.
Diverse Bitcoin Input and Output Types
The transaction attempts to use nearly every form of valid Bitcoin input and output type, demonstrating an extensive understanding of Bitcoin’s evolution and features:
- P2PK (Pay-to-Public-Key): Directly sends money to someone’s public key.
- Legacy (P2PKH): The format widely used from 2010 to 2017, where the output is tied to a hash of the public key.
- Bare Multisig: The output lists two or more public keys directly.
- P2SH Multisig: The output is a hash of two or more public keys.
- Nested SegWit: A compatibility layer for using SegWit with older addresses.
- Native SegWit v0 (bech32): More efficient in terms of transaction size.
- SegWit v1 (Taproot): The latest upgrade providing better privacy and flexibility.
- Lightning-related UTXOs: Including an in-flight HTLC and a force closure transaction.
Significant Input Amounts
The input amounts include several historically significant numbers:
Executive Order 6102: Issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933, this order required U.S. citizens to turn in their gold coins, bullion, and gold certificates to the Federal Reserve. This action was intended to combat gold hoarding during the Great Depression and to increase the money supply by backing it with gold reserves. The order played a significant role in shaping U.S. monetary policy at the time.
1913: This is the year the Federal Reserve Act was passed, establishing the Federal Reserve System as the central banking system of the United States. The Act aimed to provide the country with a safer, more flexible, and more stable monetary and financial system.
1971: The year President Richard Nixon announced the suspension of the gold standard, which ended the direct convertibility of the U.S. dollar to gold. This move effectively transitioned the global economy to a fiat currency system, where currency value is not directly tied to physical commodities.
2140: This year marks a future event in Bitcoin’s protocol when the last Bitcoin is expected to be mined, and the block reward for miners will cease. The total supply of Bitcoin will be capped at 21 million coins.
5139: This refers to the CVE report number (CVE-2010-5139) for the Bitcoin inflation bug discovered in 2010, where a vulnerability allowed the creation of billions of Bitcoins, leading to a fork and rollback of the blockchain to correct the issue.
3220: This CVE report number (CVE-2013-3220) is associated with one of Bitcoin’s only hard forks, related to the Berkeley Database issue which caused inconsistencies in Bitcoin’s blockchain data.
17144: This number refers to the CVE report (CVE-2018-17144) on the “would-be” inflation bug discovered in 2018, which could have been exploited to create new Bitcoins but was patched before it could be used maliciously.
8149: This is the pull request number that integrated SegWit (Segregated Witness) into Bitcoin. SegWit is an upgrade that changed the transaction format to improve scalability and fix transaction malleability.
19953: This pull request number is related to the integration of Schnorr signatures into Bitcoin, providing a more efficient and secure method for signing transactions.
9001: This is likely a reference to the “It’s over 9000!” meme from Dragon Ball Z. While there was a minor bug in Bitcoin Core associated with this number, the meme is a more probable reference given its cultural significance.
Dust Limits and Outputs
Analysis of 0xB10C's weird bitcoin transactionhttps://t.co/jr6SnWjNlY
— Super Testnet (@super_testnet) July 1, 2024
The output amounts reflect the dust limits for Bitcoin’s various address formats:
- 576 for P2PK addresses
- 540 for legacy addresses
- 582 for bare multisig addresses
- 546 for P2SH addresses
- 294 for SegWit v0 “regular addresses”
- 330 for SegWit v0 “script addresses” and SegWit v1 “taproot addresses”
- 240 for the non-standard 2-byte address
- 0 for OP_RETURN outputs
Unusual Signature Techniques
The transaction employs several unusual techniques:
- Uncompressed Pubkeys: The first and third inputs use uncompressed public keys, which are less common due to their larger size and higher transaction costs.
- Signature Grinding: The fourth input uses a proof-of-work technique to produce a 57-byte signature, significantly shorter than the typical 73-byte signature.
- Various Sighash Flags: The transaction uses all six sighash flags, plus the SIGHASH_DEFAULT added for Taproot, demonstrating the author’s deep technical knowledge.
OP_RETURN Output
The OP_RETURN output in the transaction not only pushes text but also includes all 17 numbers that Bitcoin has special opcodes for, adding an additional layer of complexity and interest to the transaction.
Customized Transaction Hash
Finally, the transaction hash is customized to include the author’s Twitter handle and a series of leading zeroes, a process that is computationally expensive and time-consuming, showcasing the author’s commitment to creating a highly unique and intricate transaction.
This Bitcoin transaction exemplifies the creativity and technical prowess that can be found in the blockchain community. From exploiting bugs in explorers to using every conceivable transaction type and significant historical references, it stands as a testament to the versatility and depth of the Bitcoin protocol.
Author Profile

- Lucy Walker covers finance, health and beauty since 2014. She has been writing for various online publications.
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