It has been 13 years since Bitcoin was officially launched. While the Bitcoin whitepaper was released in October 2008, its first mint date was in January 2009. This was the first time the Genesis Block was mined.
2021 saw the emergence of Bitcoin as one of the biggest investment assets in a long time. The cryptocurrency experienced mainstream adoption like never before and recorded several firsts. Trust and interest among retail and institutional investors grew in not just Bitcoin, but in altcoins too.
Today Bitcoin is the most valuable cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalization and coin price. It has emerged as a peer-to-peer financial system and is seen as a form of digital gold, a hedge against inflation, and a potential future currency.
So, what is the Genesis Block in Bitcoin? What should you know about it? This guide will answer these questions.
What is the Genesis Block?
Genesis Block refers to the first block of Bitcoin to be mined. Satoshi Nakamoto is credited with creating this first block of the original cryptocurrency. It is the foundation of this token’s trading system. It is the prototype on which the other blocks of the Bitcoin blockchain are based upon.
Facts About the Genesis Block
These facts about the Genesis Block shed more light on its importance to Bitcoin and the world of cryptocurrency.
- January 3 marks the first time Satoshi Nakamoto mined the Genesis Block.
- When Nakamoto mined it, the chain was created.
- It is also known as Block 0 and provided the creator with 50 BTC for mining. Nakamoto rendered these 50 coins unusable.
- The creator took 5 days before releasing the software to the public for general mining to begin.
- Bitcoin is decentralized in terms of supply. There was no pre-mining by Nakamoto. The creator, just like other miners, did their own mining, having their own hardware and resources, and received block rewards just like other miners.
The Need for the Genesis Block
If there was no Genesis Block, miners would have a difficult time trusting a blockchain. It would become impossible to know when a blockchain started. It has a practical purpose.
While there is no theoretical need for this block, it is essential to have a starting point to create a sense of trust.
Every physical chain should have a single physical ring to start from. The Genesis Block is that single ring for the Bitcoin blockchain.
Major Bitcoin Milestones
The Genesis Block laid the foundation of a cryptocurrency that has grown in leaps and bounds in recent years. Here are some interesting milestones that the original cryptocurrency has covered in recent years.
- Bitcoin touched a market cap of $1 trillion for the first time in February 2021. It achieved the milestone on the head of support from major institutional investors and financial companies. MicroStrategy, Tesla, and Square purchased bitcoin using their balance sheets. In November 2021, Bitcoin touched its highest-recorded market cap so far, at $3 trillion.
- In September 2021, El Salvador became the first country to adopt Bitcoin as a legal tender. The move allows businesses to price their products in BTC and individuals to pay for items and taxes in the cryptocurrency. Besides, a trading platform like dogecoin millionaire will no longer have to pay capital gains tax.
- Bitcoin touched its all-time high price of $69,044 in November 2021. It was a record for not just Bitcoin, but also for all the cryptocurrencies.
- 90% of all bitcoin supply has already been mined. The total supply is limited to 21 million and 90% of this limit has had already been reached until December 2021. Interestingly, the remaining 10% will take another 120 years to be mined.
- Bitcoin’s hash rate recently touched its all-time high. It touched the rate of 203.5 exahashes per second. Hashrate is an important parameter in measuring blockchain strength. It refers to the computing power required for mining new bitcoin.
At the time when the Genesis Block was created, it is believed that the new coin was released with the intention of developing an alternative monetary system. Its purpose was expected to avoid the challenges faced by traditional currencies such as inflation, centralization, and market instability. Since then, Bitcoin has come a long way to become a viable alternative currency in a number of ways.
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