Crypto Academy / Season 3 / Week 2 - Homework Post for [@awesononso]|| The Genesis Block: The Beginning of the Beginning||

source

Hello friends and esteemed professors.I am glad to participate in the crypto academy homework series.I wish to thank Professor @awesononso for the lecture.

INTRODUCTION
A blockchain is an arrangement of blocks (recorded transaction) which are chained to each other.Each block is chained to the block that existed before it,and so the chain continues.However,there exist the first ever block upon each others are chained.This first ever block is called Genesis Block.

QUESTION ONE
What Is Genesis Block of a Blockchain

Like I mentioned in the Introduction.Genesis block of a Blockchain is defined as the first ever block of that particular blockchain.Each blockchain whether Bitcoin, Ethereum or Tron Blockchains has its one first ever Block (the first block that existed in that particular blockchain).

The Genesis block is designated block 0 or block 1.Unlike other blocks of a Blockchain,The Genesis block does not reference any other blocks and it is usually hardcoded into the software of the App that uses the blockchain.

It is worthy to note that a blockchain consist of sequence of blocks,which are joined or layered on each other,and the foundation block in the layer is termed the Genesis Block.

For further clarification,the Genesis block is the ancestral block upon which other blocks are joined to.

Facts About the Genesis Block

•It has no previous block for reference.

•It is the first ever block that existed in the blockchain.

•Usually have it's previous hash value as zero 0.

•Its hash is added to all new transaction in the next block.

•It is practically untradeable(eg the 50BTC of Bitcoin Genesis Block remains untradeable).

QUESTION TWO
Bitcoin Genesis Block

Bitcoin in undoubtedly the first cryptocurrency that ever existed.It came into existence in 2009.It works on Consensus Mechanism called Proof-of-Work (PoW) which is a situation where miners will have to solve complex cryptographic equations inorder to validate a transaction and then add it to a block.The node(miner) that validated the transaction is rewarded with Bitcoin.

Bitcoin was the first ever cryptocurrency.It wouldn't be wrong to say that the first ever block was a Bitcoin block.
Bitcoin Genesis Block is the first Bitcoin block which cannot be referenced or traced to any other ancestral block.It is designated block 0 which refers to it's distance from the very first block in the blockchain.

The Bitcoin Genesis block was created on 3rd January,2009 of which 50 BTC was mined.This day,was the beginning of blocks.

Mysteries About the Bitcoin Genesis Block

Verifying and validating a bitcoin transaction and adding it to a block (mining bitcoin) comes with a reward.The first bitcoin ever mined attracted a reward of 50BTC.

However,the 50BTC reward for the Genesis block was actually sent to the address 👇
Reciever Address and it remain untradeable or unspendable till date.Infact the 50BTC was not even submitted to the Bitcoin Transaction Database.This could be because there was no existing block to link it to.
Interestingly,every other Bitcoin sent to the same address can be spent by the presumed owner Satoshi Nakamoto.

We all know that it takes 10 minutes to mine a bitcoin(create a new block after a pre-existing one).It will interest you to know that after the Genesis Bitcoin block was created,it took as much as 6-days before the second block was created.Could be it a mimic of the Creation Account by God???...Or Was the 6-days use to make sure the Genesis Bitcoin blockchain was stable??

Also there was a secret message dropped by Satoshi Nakamoto on the blocks raw data which reads

The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks.

source

It is believed that the message suggests that Bitcoin is different from the financial institutions like banks and cannot fail and won't need government bail outs.

Significance of Bitcoin Genesis Block

•Breakthrough for Blockchain Technology

In Christendom, Creation cannot be mentioned without God.The operation and application of blockchain technology cannot be mentioned without the Bitcoin Genesis Block.
In other words,The Bitcoin Genesis block gave a breakthrough for storage of
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency transactions on a blockchain.

•It Widwifed the birth of Cryptocurrencies

Cryptocurrency transactions are permanently recorded on the blockchain.If there was no blockchain,there wouldn't have been recording of cryptocurrency transactions in blocks.So there is no doubt that Bitcoin Genesis Block was the Widwife that helped to give birth to existence and recording of crypto transactions.

•It made it possible for the existence and application of blockchain technology in other areas of life such as in smart contracts,buying and selling.Infact blockchain will be used in other areas of human endeavour in future.All these was because the Bitcoin Genesis Block was successful.

•It is a building block for all other existing blocks

The Bitcoin Genesis Block is a foundation for every other blocks that exist or that will exist in the future.

•Contains Interesting Stories and Hidden Meanings

It contained the secret message which Satoshi Nakamoto dropped on the blocks raw data.

•It was the bedrock of Blockchain Technology

Other cryptocurrencies and blockchains wouldn't have existed if not for the success of the Bitcoin Genesis Block.It was the foundation upon which Ethereum,Tron and other Cryptos and blockchains came to be.
Imagine if the Bitcoin Genesis Block wasn't successful, nobody would have believe or trusted the existence of such a trustless and permisionless platform called blockchain.

QUESTION THREE

Steem Genesis Block
Steem Genesis Block was the first ever block that existed in the Steem blockchain.It is designated block 1 and was created in 2016.
Steem blockchain works a Consensus Mechanism called Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) -a situation where users vote a delegate of their choice.The delegate with the highest stake(as recieved from his voters) is permitted to validate the transaction and adds it to the existing blocks.The rewards is thereafter shared among the users that voted the successful delegate according to their stake in the staking pool.

How to Access the Steem Genesis Block

•Visit Steemworld.org

•Click on Block Explorer

•Enter 1 in the block number and press OK

•Sign in

•Example,I entered my username and posting key to log in

•Now I Can read the Steem Genesis Block

It was created on 24th March,2016 at
17:05.

CONCLUSION
There is always a beginning to everything.Genesis block is the beginning and origin of blockchain technology.It has no ancestral chain and is designated block 0 or block 1.The first Genesis block was that of Bitcoin because the first ever blockchain was the Bitcoin Blockchain which was initiated by Satoshi Nakamoto although his existence remains a unknown.

Blockchain has made it possible for crypto transactions to be stored permanently, untampered and secured on the blockchain.