Crypto glossary
Genesis block
A genesis block is the first block of a blockchain, hard-coded into its software, which every later block traces back to through its chain of hashes.
The genesis block, or block 0, is the starting point of a blockchain. Because it has no predecessor, it is written directly into the client software instead of being produced by normal mining or validation. Every node uses it as the anchor from which it verifies the rest of the chain.
Bitcoin's genesis block was mined by Satoshi Nakamoto on 3 January 2009. Its coinbase transaction contains a headline from The Times about a second bank bailout, read as both a timestamp and a comment on the financial system, and its 50 BTC reward can never be spent. Ethereum's genesis block, created in July 2015, assigned the balances bought in the 2014 crowdsale.
The genesis block also defines key starting parameters, such as initial allocations. Reviewing it shows whether founders or insiders received a large premine, a detail worth checking before trusting a new network.
Example
Any Bitcoin node syncing from scratch starts at block 0 from 3 January 2009 and checks each of the hundreds of thousands of blocks that follow it, one hash at a time.
Related terms
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