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Genesis block

From Satoshipedia, the Satoshi Mail encyclopedia

The genesis block is block 0 of the Bitcoin blockchain, hard-coded into the software and dated 3 January 2009. Embedded in it is the text “The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks”.[1]

The headline serves as a timestamp, and has been read as a derisive comment on the instability caused by fractional-reserve banking.[2] Satoshi described it as “a hardcoded block that you start out with” (the post).

The first open-source client, v0.1, was released on 9 January 2009.[3] Satoshi saw newspapers as natural timestamps: in January 2009 he told Dustin Trammell that publishing hashes in “a magazine or newspaper” would “work a lot easier in court” (the email).

See also

References

  1. Bitcoin, Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 20 October 2026.
  2. Satoshi Nakamoto, Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 20 October 2026.
  3. History of bitcoin, Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 20 October 2026.

Primary sources

The messages and commits this article draws on, in Satoshi Mail and where they were first published.

  1. blocks minus 1, BitcoinTalk forum, 16 August 2010. Original source
  2. Re: Bitcoin v0.1 released, Private email with Dustin Trammell, 12 January 2009. Original source

Published by Tyler Howell for Satoshi Mail. Written with AI assistance from the sources listed above and checked against them. Last updated 22 October 2026. Spotted an error? Email itstylerhowell@gmail.com (how articles are made).

Categories: Events · Software