Explore the genesis block that marks the inaugural moment of Bitcoin’s existence and the cornerstone of cryptocurrency history.
The genesis block kickstarts a blockchain by establishing the network, adhering to consensus rules and linking all future blocks back to the origination point.
In proof-of-work (PoW) chains, the genesis block is the first block ever mined on a blockchain network and serves as the foundation for all blocks that follow. It is typically hard-coded into the protocol and created by the creator of the blockchain. Since there are no previous blocks to reference or mine against, it doesn’t involve the traditional mining process.