Bitcoin genesis block quote

A genesis block is the first block of a block chain. Modern versions of Bitcoin number it as block 0, though very early versions counted it as block 1. The genesis block is almost always hardcoded into the software of the applications that utilize its block chain. It is a special case in that it does not reference a previous block, and for Bitcoin and almost all of its derivatives, it produces an unspendable subsidy.

Main network genesis block

Here is a representation of the genesis block^[1] as it appeared in a comment in an old version of Bitcoin (line ). The first section defines exactly all of the variables necessary to recreate the block. The second section is the block in standard printblock format, which contains shortened versions of the data in the first section.

GetHash() = 0xdcaeeffae46a2a6cb3f1b60a8ce26f hashMerkleRoot = 0x4a5e1e4baab89f3aa88c31bc87ffe2cc77abb7afdeda33b tallerembajador.com.mx[0].scriptSig = 4 0xB6EFF6CE6FFB6EE6FF6C6CEF6EA2FD tallerembajador.com.mx[0].nValue = tallerembajador.com.mx[0].scriptPubKey = 0x5F1DF16B2BC8AD0BBAF74DCDE12C11EEF3CEF4C3FBCFB6DEFEAEAEA8D65C10BA6FFEB0FD8A OP_CHECKSIG tallerembajador.com.mxon = 1 tallerembajador.com.mx = tallerembajador.com.mx = 0x1d00ffff tallerembajador.com.mx = CBlock(hash=d6, ver=1, hashPrevBlock=, hashMerkleRoot=4a5e1e, nTime=, nBits=1d00ffff, nNonce=, vtx=1) CTransaction(hash=4a5e1e, ver=1, tallerembajador.com.mx=1, tallerembajador.com.mx=1, nLockTime=0) CTxIn(COutPoint(, -1), coinbase 04ffffddf4ae2fec6c6ff6ee6bff6ec6ffe6b73) CTxOut(nValue=, scriptPubKey=0x5F1DF16B2BC8AD0B) vMerkleTree: 4a5e1e

Hash

The hash of the genesis block, dcaeeffae46a2a6cb3f1b60a8ce26f,^[1] has two more leading hex zeroes than were required for an early block.

Coinbase

The coinbase parameter (seen above in hex) contains, along with the normal data, the following text:^[2]

The Times 03/Jan/ Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks^[1]

This was probably intended as proof that the block was created on or after January 3, , as well as a comment on the instability caused by fractional-reserve banking. Additionally, it suggests that Satoshi Nakamoto may have lived in the United Kingdom.^[3]

This detail, "second bailout for banks" could also suggest that the fact a supposedly liberal and capitalist system, rescuing banks like that, was a problem for satoshi . . . the choosen topic could have a meaning about bitcoin s purpose . . .

Block reward

The first 50 BTC block reward went to address1A1zP1eP5QGefi2DMPTfTL5SLmv7DivfNa,^[1] though this reward can't be spent due to a quirk in the way that the genesis block is expressed in the code. It is not known if this was done intentionally or accidentally.^[4][5][6] It is believed that other outputs sent to this address are spendable, but it is unknown if Satoshi Nakamoto has the private key for this particular address, if one existed at all.

Timestamp

Although the average time between Bitcoin blocks is 10 minutes, the timestamp of the next block is a full 6 days after the genesis block. One interpretation is that Satoshi was working on bitcoin for some time beforehand and the The Times front page prompted him to release it to the public. He then mined the genesis block with a timestamp in the past to match the headline. It is also possible that, since the block's hash is so low, he may have spent 6 days mining it with the same timestamp before proceeding to block 1. The prenet hypothesis suggests that the genesis block was solved on January 3, but the software was tested by Satoshi Nakamoto using that genesis block until January 9, when all the test blocks were deleted and the genesis block was reused for the main network.

Raw block data

The raw hex version of the Genesis block looks like:

01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 3B A3 ED FD 7A 7B 12 B2 7A C7 2C 3E ;£íýz{.²zÇ,> 67 76 8F 61 7F C8 1B C3 88 8A 51 32 3A 9F B8 AA gv.a.È.ÈŠQ2:Ÿ¸ª 4B 1E 5E 4A 29 AB 5F 49 FF FF 00 1D 1D AC 2B 7C K.^J)«_Iÿÿ¬+| 01 01 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 FF FF FF FF 4D 04 FF FF 00 1D ÿÿÿÿM.ÿÿ.. 01 04 45 54 68 65 20 54 69 6D 65 73 20 30 33 2F tallerembajador.com.mx Times 03/ 4A 61 6E 2F 32 30 30 39 20 43 68 61 6E 63 65 6C Jan/ Chancel A0 6C 6F 72 20 6F 6E 20 62 72 69 6E 6B 20 6F 66 20 lor on brink of B0 73 65 63 6F 6E 64 20 62 61 69 6C 6F 75 74 20 66 second bailout f C0 6F 72 20 62 61 6E 6B 73 FF FF FF FF 01 00 F2 05 or banksÿÿÿÿ..ò. D0 2A 01 00 00 00 43 41 04 67 8A FD B0 FE 55 48 27 *CA.gŠý°þUH' E0 19 67 F1 A6 71 30 B7 10 5C D6 A8 28 E0 39 09 A6 .gñ¦q0·.\Ö¨(à9.¦ F0 79 62 E0 EA 1F 61 DE B6 49 F6 BC 3F 4C EF 38 C4 ybàê.aÞ¶Iö¼?Lï8Ä F3 55 04 E5 1E C1 12 DE 5C 38 4D F7 BA 0B 8D 57 óU.å.Á.Þ\8M÷º..W 8A 4C 70 2B 6B F1 1D 5F AC 00 00 00 00 ŠLp+kñ._¬

Broken down it looks like this:

- version - prev block 3BA3EDFD7A7B12B27AC72C3EFFC81BCAA9FB8AA4B1E5E4A - merkle root 29AB5F49 - timestamp FFFFD - bits 1DAC2B7C - nonce 01 - number of transactions - version 01 - input FFFFFFFF - prev output 4D - script length 04FFFFDDF4AE2FEC6C6FF6EE6BFF6EC6FFE6B73 - scriptsig FFFFFFFF - sequence 01 - outputs 00FA - 50 BTC 43 - pk_script length AFDB0FEF1ABCD6AEAE0EA1F61DEBF6BC3F4CEF38C4FE51ECDE5CDF7BA0B8DA4CB6BF11D5FAC - pk_script - lock time

References