Genesis Block Mined
What is Genesis Block Day?
“Genesis Block Day” celebrates the mining of the Bitcoin Blockchain’s very first block.
This block was first mined on January 3, 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto.
What is the “Genesis Block”?
Every transaction that has ever taken place on the Bitcoin Blockchain exists in what are known as “blocks”.
These “blocks” contain all of the transaction data that has taken place since the previous block.
However, the genesis block has no previous transaction data to reference, which makes it unique.
The base of the whole blockchain is this block, which is hardcoded into the Bitcoin software.
Because it serves as the foundation for the whole blockchain and is the source of all succeeding blocks, it is known as the Genesis Block.
It is also called “Block 0”, though earlier bitcoin clients called it “Block 1”.
Making the Genesis Block (Bitcoin Genesis Day)
As previously stated, the genesis block was created by Satoshi Nakamoto, a pseudonym for the person or persons who invented bitcoin, on January 3, 2009.
Nakamoto added the following message to the block using the OP_RETURN function which allowed any miner to add a short message inside the block.
Here is what he wrote:
“The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks”
This message is a reference to the financial crisis, which many believe was caused by the reckless monetary policies of central banks.
These policies are largely the reason for Nakamoto’s creation of bitcoin.
In addition to the message, there is a single transaction in this block - the 50 BTC reward for mining it, which you can see below.
Why is Genesis Block Day Important?
Bitcoin provides an alternative to conventional fiat currencies, which are created and governed by central banks.
Users of Bitcoin can send and receive payments without the aid of a middleman or a centralized authority authorizing them.
In addition, an entire industry of service-providers and products developed around the invention of bitcoin.
Genesis Block Day marks the first time a such a currency was made possible.
That’s why enthusiasts and all the people who service bitcoin and make it better celebrate it every year.