Genesis block
The genesis block is the very first block in a blockchain — for Bitcoin mined by Satoshi Nakamoto on 3 January 2009, with the famous bank-bailout headline embedded inside.
Bitcoin's genesis block (height 0) was mined on 3 January 2009 at 18:15 UTC. The coinbase transaction contains the text The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks — at once timestamp, political statement and unforgeable proof the block couldn't be pre-mined. Its 50 BTC reward is unspendable due to a deliberate software choice by Satoshi. It anchors Bitcoin's history.
Example
The genesis block hash starts with unusually many leading zeros: 000000000019d6689c085ae165831e934ff763ae46a2a6c172b3f1b60a8ce26f. Every node on Earth has the same genesis block — a shared anchor.
Frequently asked questions
Why is the genesis reward unspendable?
Satoshi didn't include the coinbase transaction in the original UTXO database (deliberately or by accident, unknown). Any attempt is rejected by nodes — the 50 BTC are permanently frozen.
What does the headline mean?
Dual purpose: unforgeable proof that block 0 didn't exist before 3 Jan 2009 (that newspaper came out that day) and an ideological signal against bank bailouts as Bitcoin's motivation.
Related terms
Further reading
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