1a) What is the Genesis block?
b) What are the significances of the Genesis Block?
c) Explore the Bitcoin Genesis block and indicate how many transactions so far and the number of bitcoins.
1a) What is the Genesis block?
A Genesis Block is the term that is used to describe the very first block that is used to store data (information) in a newly created project or company that makes use of blockchain technology. Because of the nature of blockchain technology, every block that is created after the Genesis block is arranged in layers (one block on the top of another block) from the Genesis block down to the current block.
Through this layer, the block grows in height with them being chained together from the Genesis block down to the current block. They continue this sequence of events until the end of the blockchain is reached or the sequence is finally complete. These layers ultimately show the deep history that the blockchain network has experienced since its Genesis block. In addition, it is through these layers that the security of the blockchain network is high and maintained. The chain is called a Hash. It is through this hash that the blocks in a blockchain network are linked together.
Different Genesis blocks use different consensus mechanisms to generate them. For instance, Bitcoin's Genesis block used the Proof-of-Work PoW consensus mechanism to generate it. Through this mechanism, the Genesis block created the first-ever set of cryptocurrencies (50 BTC). This is because a block has an amount of cryptocurrency embedded in it as a reward where the creator of the block is rewarded with newly created coins.
At the same time, the first-ever Genesis block to be created is the Bitcoin Genesis block. It was the starter of the blockchain industry which is rocking the world presently and which is shaping the future. The Bitcoin Genesis changed the way in which storage of data is done, also, it is changing the way in which financial products and services are being rendered to customers and users.
It is important to note that we can't make mention of the term "Genesis Block" without mentioning Bitcoin. That being the case, then we have to talk about the developer and the creator of the first Genesis block. The name of the person(s) that is recognized for creating the first-ever Genesis block is Satoshi Nakamoto. The person(s) was tasked with mining the first ever block on the Bitcoin blockchain. This event took place on January 3, 2009. However, after the first-ever Genesis block that is ever mined, other Genesis blocks have been created. That is, other blockchain networks asides from Bitcoin have been created.
The Genesis block is a prototype for all other blocks on the blockchain network that is created. It is the foundation upon which all the other blocks in the blockchain are formed when generated. The number that is associated with the Genesis block is either block 1 or block 0. It is the block that starts validating transactions and storing the data related to the transaction, then other blocks would have to store data in the same manner as the Genesis block in a blockchain. Because it is the Genesis block it is not linked to any previous block. It is the block that is usually started by the developer or founder of the blockchain project/company.
We can see a prime example of a Genesis block in the image above. This is the Genesis block for Tron's network. It is tagged Block 0 which is the block height. The button to scan the blockchain network has only the front which is highlighted with the pink > button. While the button to scan previous blocks is shown with a grey < button, indicating that there is no previous block. Some other information such as the Block Hash and the Block Reward is given.
b) What are the significances of the Genesis Block?
So far we have seen how the Genesis block has been impactful and how it is beginning to change the world as we knew it. These are the significances of the Genesis Block:
The Genesis Block is the beginning of a new blockchain project. Any developer who intends to start a blockchain project or company must go through the process of creating the Genesis block. It is through this block that all other blocks in the blockchain would be created, formed, and tied to.
It preserves the history and the culture of a project's blockchain technology. Through the Genesis block, every transaction that has taken place in a particular blockchain network is preserved. It allows users of the network to be able to gain access to the initial transaction data that has been stored on that blockchain.
The start of the digital currency called CRYPTOCURRENCY. Bitcoin's Genesis block brought about a new form of money called Bitcoins. It is a type of currency that is found only on the internet, because of its digital nature. Likewise, all other Genesis blocks created have their own cryptocurrencies. Combined together they are called Altcoins, as they are an alternative cryptocurrency to the first-ever cryptocurrency—Bitcoins.
It makes the storage of data more secure and transparent. Because all the subsequent blocks in a blockchain company are tied to the Genesis block, the data stored in these blocks are highly secured as they are linked with each other back to the Genesis block. So anyone can get details of the information of a particular block by going through the links from the current block to the Genesis block and vice-versa. And as anyone can get the details regarding any block on the blockchain, it means that the system is transparent.
Brings about much-needed solutions to different industries. So many industries rely on data for business purposes. For instance, in the medical industry, most of the data of patients are stored with the old ways of storing data. This makes it that retrieving data for patients become difficult and at times impossible. But with blockchain technology through the Genesis block, anyone's data can be sorted at any period in time.
The Genesis block started the blockchain revolution. Through the Genesis block, a new form of storage of data was initiated called a Blockchain. A blockchain consists of different blocks that have data stored in them and are linked together. This linkage dates back to the Genesis block. Every blockchain project has blocks that are linked together and then linked to the Genesis block. Since the creation of the first-ever Genesis block, other blockchains have been created along with their respective Genesis blocks.
In the image above we can see that since the creation of the first-ever Genesis block in 2009 more than 14,000 blockchain projects have been created. The good news is that more is about to be created.
c) Explore the Bitcoin Genesis block and indicate how many transactions so far and the number of bitcoins.
In this exercise, I visited a prominent Bitcoin scanner, blockchain.com to gain access to and explore the Bitcoin Genesis block.
So on the home page of the website, I input the hash of the block that was given in the class: 000000000019d6689c085ae165831e934ff763ae46a2a6c172b3f1b60a8ce26f in the search icon above. This block has can be gotten anywhere on the site because it is something of importance and it is also on the internet.
When I clicked enter, it took me to a whole new page where much information about the Bitcoin Genesis block is presented. At the very top, we can see that the block is depicted as Block 0. This is to show that the block is the Genesis block. Then we can also see some written text just below block 0, giving a summary of the block details. Then when we scroll down we can see the details of the block including Hash, Confirmations, Timestamp, Difficulty, Version, Bits, Nonce, Block Reward, etc.
Scrolling down a bit further, we get to the section of the block depicted as Block Transactions. In this section, we can see the Fee that is related to the block transactions, it was 0.00000000 BTC. We can also see the block reward which was transferred to the wallet address that is linked to this block. The fee transferred (given) is 50.00000000 BTC. We can also see the Hash for the transfer of the 50 BTC and the Wallet address that the 50 BTC was sent to.
To get more information about the Wallet address, I clicked on the wallet address key: 1A1zP1eP5QGefi2DMPTfTL5SLmv7DivfNa. From there it can be seen that the transactions that have a total of 3,112 transactions have taken place. The amount of BTC received through these transactions is 68.52395982 BTC. No BTC has been sent out.
Conclusion
The Genesis Block is one of the most important parts of history in modern times. Because of it so much has changed in the world. Through it storage of data became more secure and thus profound, a new form of currency was created, and a new form of technology was also created.
Since the creation of the first-ever Genesis block, many other genesis blocks have been created. That is, many blockchain projects have been created. As of the time of writing, there are just over 14,000 projects that are making use of blockchain technology.
Finally, exploring the first-ever Genesis block, that is, the Bitcoin Genesis block, there was so much information that can be gotten from the block. The most important of them all is the transactions that have taken place in the wallet address that is tied to the Genesis block. Exploring the wallet address, I can see that there are up to 3,112 transactions so far with the most recent transaction being on the 2021-11-12 by 10:32. The amount of BTC that was sent is +0.00000558 BTC.
CC:@awesononso