Genesis block of Bitcoin mined 13 years ago

On 3 January 2009, a person or group under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto launched the Bitcoin mainnet, mining the genesis block containing 50 BTC.

Its hash contains the headline of a British newspaper The Times article, ‘Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks’.

The launch of the network was preceded by the publication of the Bitcoin white paper (31 October 2008). The first transaction occurred on 12 January 2009 — Satoshi Nakamoto sent 10 BTC to Hal Finney. Three days earlier, Bitcoin software version 0.1 was released.

The identity of Nakamoto and the motives for creating Bitcoin remain a mystery, which the cryptosphere and beyond continue to try to solve.

It is not inconceivable that one of the incentives for creating Bitcoin was the global financial crisis of 2007-2008, marked by the collapse of major investment banks, widespread declines in production, falling demand and commodity prices, rising unemployment, and active state intervention in the economy.

In November 2021, the first cryptocurrency hit an all-time high of $69,000. At the same time, miners mined 90% of the coins of Bitcoin’s total supply.

Today, Bitcoin trades at around $47,000, and the capitalisation of the leading cryptocurrency stands at about $891.8 billion.

Happy Genesis Block Day!

For more on the history of the creation of the first cryptocurrency and the possible identity of Satoshi Nakamoto, read ForkLog:

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