Steemit Crypto Academy Season 4 - Homework Post for Task 3
1a) What is the Genesis block?
b) What are the significances of the Genesis Block?
c) Explore the Bitcoin Genesis block and indicate how many transactions so far and the number of bitcoins.
A block is the collection of data or information on transactions that are created by block miners and stored on a blockchain. A block is a record of transactions stored on a blockchain as a single unit. And a blockchain is the collection of a variety of blocks stored in a manner that no change or alteration can be done to.
Whenever ever the word Genesis is mentioned it makes reference to the beginning of something. Blockchain technology is now been widely accepted and adopted by many in the world. These blockchain as indicated earlier are a collection of different blocks and these blocks are built on each other.
The genesis block of a blockchain therefore refers to the first block that was ever mined on any blockchain. It is the foundation on which any blockchain is built on. The genesis block is always referred to as the block 1 or block 0 depending on the blockchain involved. The genesis block’s hash is always referenced in the new blocks being mined. The genesis block of Bitcoin is the block that was first mined by Satoshi Nakamoto who is now referred to as the father of Bitcoin. The Bitcoin genesis block which was created on the 3rd of January can be said to the beginning of blockchain because it was the first ever block to be created. The block reward of the Bitcoin genesis block was 50BTC.
SERVES AS A MODEL FOR NEW BLOCKS
The genesis block is always used as the standard based on which new blocks are created on mined. The level of orderliness present in the genesis block must be met by new blocks that are being created. Therefore genesis blocks sets the standard new blocks should meet before they are added to the blockchain.
INTRODUCTION OF CRYPTOCURRENCIES.
Currently we have over 10,000 cryptocurrencies in circulation. The first cryptocurrency to ever be created was Bitcoin which was given rewarded to Satoshi Nakamoto as a reward for mining the genesis block of Bitcoin. The success of Bitcoin then inspired the creation of these numerous cryptocurrencies in circulation.
REJUVENATION OF BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY
Even though there was some knowledge about blockchain technology. The technology was not put to use and hence rendering it useless. But after the genesis block of Bitcoin was created, the world then moved to the practical use of blockchain technology and hence the implementations of blockchain technology in various aspects of life.
To explore the genesis block of Bitcoin you will need to open the Bitcoin block explorer using this link
From the search box search for block 0 which is the genesis block on Bitcoin.
From the results displayed select BTC block
The details of the genesis block are displayed as shown below.
| TIMESTAMP | 2009-01-03 18:15 |
|---|---|
| HASH | 000000000019d6689c085ae165831e934ff763ae46a2a6c172b3f1b60a8ce26f |
| BLOCK REWARD | 50 BTC. |
I proceeded by click on the address to explore its number of transactions and total number of Bitcoin.
The details are also shown below.
| TRANSACTIONS | 3,094 |
|---|---|
| TOTAL BITCOINS | 68.52366126 BTC |
In life there is a always a beginning in everything, same applies to blockchain. In the context of blockchain the first block of any blockchain is referred to as GENESIS BLOCK. Depending on the blockchain the genesis block can be labelled as either block 0 or block 1. It is on this block that any other block is now built on. Thanks to professor @awesononso for such a great lecture.