WHAT IS THE GENESIS BLOCK OF A BLOCKCHAIN?

First, its of importance to note that the word Genesis refers to the beginning of something, the starting point of something, the origin of something. Also the word block in this context refers to digital file where transactions or data on the blockchain are recorded.

With these explanations in mind, we can say that the Genesis Block of a blockchain refers to the beginning block of a blockchain. The starting block of a blockchain, the first ever block of a blockchain. The original or foundation block of a blockchain where all other blocks in the blockchain are connected to by hashtags. So, the Genesis Block is the common history of every other block on the blockchain.

The Genesis Block is written as Block 0 on the blockchain even though some other blockchains refer to it as Block 1. Every blockchain that is existing today started with a Genesis Block which indirectly defines the hash of other blocks that will be mined after it, and connected to it with its hash referenced in every new block.

WRITE ON THE BITCOIN GENESIS BLOCK AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE

In the world of cryptocurrency, Bitcoin is considered to be the first successful cryptocurrency. Which also means that the Bitcoin Genesis Block is the foundation of that blockchain. It was the first block that was mined in Bitcoin blockchain. It is the beginning block of the Bitcoin blockchain.

The Bitcoin Genesis Block came into existence in January 2009 when the first transaction was conducted by Satoshi Nakamoto, the anonymous Bitcoin founder. That transaction gave birth to Block 0 which is the Bitcoin Genesis Block. The reward earned for mining the Genesis Block was 50BTC which was a lot higher than what is earned today for mining a new block which is 6.25BTC. The earned reward which is 50BTC for mining the Bitcoin Genesis Block was transferred to a wallet where it remained untouched till today.

The significance of Bitcoin Genesis Block includes:

• Being the first ever block in the blockchain technology, it opened up the way for many other blockchain platforms to be developed.
• As the first block in the blockchain, the Bitcoin Genesis Block serves as a model for every other block on the Bitcoin blockchain. The degree of orderliness in the contents of this block is followed by other blocks and that means that any new block to be mined must meet this criteria already set.
• Bitcoin being the first considered successful cryptocurrency, has led to the creation of other cryptocurrencies running on blockchain technology.
• Since the Bitcoin is thought to be the first application of the blockchain technology, it has led to the deployment of blockchain technology to other fields of life considering its high security and transparency

LOCATE THE STEEM GENESIS BLOCK

They first thing to do is to go this link https://steemworld.org/

Type it in search engine and open it. Then I clicked on sign in.

A dialogue box will appear requesting me to sign in, I will then enter my username in steemit and my posting key and click OK.

Next I click on Block explorer

Then another dialogue box will come up and i click on OK

In the environment, I can see all the information for the steem Genesis Block(Block 1)

CONCLUSION

I can really say that this lecture is very informative. Before now, I did not know how the cryptocurrency and blockchain technology idea got started. Right now, it is obvious that everything could be traced to the Genesis Block. And the Bitcoin's Genesis Block is the most significant block as it formed the basis of the blockchain technology in the world.

I am grateful to Professor @awesononso