Crypto Academy / Season 3 / Week 2 - Homework Post for @awesononso

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Dear Steemians,
I am glad to be part of this week's lesson. Thanks to Professor @awesononso for giving us this excellent lecture on The Genesis Block: The Beginning of the Beginning. After going through the notes and researching this week's topic, I have decided to review what I have learned in my homework task.

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Introduction

In the blockchain ecosystem, blocks are an important part of the network. That's the blockchain began with the first block which is known as the Genesis block, this very first block has made it possible for other blocks to connect.

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1. What is the Genesis Block of a Blockchain.

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• What is Genesis block.

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The word Genesis as it implies, the beginning of something. The Genesis block is the fundamental of all blockchain network.

All the known Blockchain in the crypto space began with the first block which is known as thegenesis block. This Genesis block has no preference since it is the first on the Blockchain, and it will serve as the starting point for other blocks to be mined and connected to it in that particular Blockchain.

The genesis block is which is known as Block 0 in the Bitcoin and other Blockchains but on other blockchains is seen as Block 1. Although they are all mean the same thing, that is the beginning block of the blockchain.

The Genesis block has no reference. In short, the Genesis block is a blockchain that indirectly defines the hash of other blockchains in a new block.

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Source

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2. Write on the Bitcoin Genesis Block and its significance.

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• Bitcoin Genesis Block

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Bitcoin is the basis of all cryptocurrencies created on a blockchain. It was created by Satoshi Nakamoto, on 3rd January 2009. It is called the bitcoin genesis block because is the first cryptocurrency block created on a blockchain. The creation of bitcoin is to provide another means of making payments online.

The transactions reward from bitcoin 50 BTC, which is very high as today's reward 6.25, this is because after every 210,000 blocks, the mining reward is reduced by half.

It took 6 days to mine the next block after the first block, unlike today which only takes 10minutes.

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Source

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More details on bitcoin's genesis block can be seen on [blockchain.com]

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Source

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The block has a hidden message, and this was generated by the sender as proof of being the owner of the Bitcoin. This is done by generating a Sigscript which contains the signature and public key of the owner.

The hidden message has the hex script,

5468652054696d65732030332f4a616e2f32303039204368616e63656c6c6f72206f6e206272696e6b206f66207365636f6e64206261696c6f757420666f722062616e6b73

A hex script is a form of code that can be converted to an English word or sentence. To convert the hex script, we go to rapidtables.

If we paste the hex script and convert, we get the following message.
The first miner the first block is not known till this day, it can be a he, she, or even they, no one knows.

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The hidden message is,
The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks

This message has to do with a news headline on the day the first was mined.

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Significance of Bitcoin Genesis Block

The Bitcoin Genesis Block has the following significance;
• It has helped provide some solutions to most of the problems confronting our local banks.
• It has also helped most investors became millionaires.
• It has provided room for the creation of other cryptocurrencies on a blockchain.
• It has also provided another means of making payments online.

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3. Go to https://steemworld.org and locate the Steem Genesis Block (You must provide screenshots and sign in as proof of completion).

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To log in to steemworld.org and to explore the platform, follow the steps below,

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• Go to steemworld website at steemworld.org, at the right top corner of the homepage, click on 'Sign in'.
  

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• On the next page, enter your steemit username and private posting key to log in, then click 'Ok'.
  

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• You should see your username located at the right top corner of the page if login is successful.

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• To locate steemit genesis block, click on "Block Explorer".
  

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• To explore the genesis block, enter 1 as the block number to explore.
  

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• All the Steemit Genesis block (Block 1) will be shown.
  

** Details of the Steem genesis block**

• The has not been any transaction recorded in the block.

• The first block was validated on the 24th of March, 2016 at 16:05:00.

• initminer is the steem witness who created the first block.

The profile of the witness on steemit shows the following details,

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Conclusion

Thank you professor @awesononso for this wonderful lecture.

Just like everything has a beginning which the blockchain is no exception. The first blockchain which is the Bitcoin blockchain has the first block which is known as block 0 or block 1, this first block in every blockchain sets the foundation for other blocks to join.

In Bitcoin's genesis block, there is only one transaction that has a hidden message whereas the steem genesis has no transaction.