Genesis block
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A genesis block is the first block of a block chain. Modern versions of Bitcoin assign it block number 0, though older versions gave it number 1.
Main network genesis block
The block on Bitcoin Block Explorer
Here is a representation of the genesis block as it appeared in a comment in an old version of Bitcoin (line 1613). The first section defines exactly all of the variables necessary to recreate the block. The second section is the block in standard printblock format, which contains shortened versions of the data in the first section.
GetHash() = 0x000000000019d6689c085ae165831e934ff763ae46a2a6c172b3f1b60a8ce26f
hashMerkleRoot = 0x4a5e1e4baab89f3a32518a88c31bc87f618f76673e2cc77ab2127b7afdeda33b
txNew.vin[0].scriptSig = 486604799 4 0x736B6E616220726F662074756F6C69616220646E6F63657320666F206B6E697262206E6F20726F6C6C65636E61684320393030322F6E614A2F33302073656D695420656854
txNew.vout[0].nValue = 5000000000
txNew.vout[0].scriptPubKey = 0x5F1DF16B2B704C8A578D0BBAF74D385CDE12C11EE50455F3C438EF4C3FBCF649B6DE611FEAE06279A60939E028A8D65C10B73071A6F16719274855FEB0FD8A6704 OP_CHECKSIG
block.nVersion = 1
block.nTime = 1231006505
block.nBits = 0x1d00ffff
block.nNonce = 2083236893
CBlock(hash=000000000019d6, ver=1, hashPrevBlock=00000000000000, hashMerkleRoot=4a5e1e, nTime=1231006505, nBits=1d00ffff, nNonce=2083236893, vtx=1)
CTransaction(hash=4a5e1e, ver=1, vin.size=1, vout.size=1, nLockTime=0)
CTxIn(COutPoint(000000, -1), coinbase 04ffff001d0104455468652054696d65732030332f4a616e2f32303039204368616e63656c6c6f72206f6e206272696e6b206f66207365636f6e64206261696c6f757420666f722062616e6b73)
CTxOut(nValue=50.00000000, scriptPubKey=0x5F1DF16B2B704C8A578D0B)
vMerkleTree: 4a5e1e
The coinbase parameter (seen above in hex) contains, along with the normal data, the following text[1]:
The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks
This was probably intended as proof that the block was created on or after January 3rd, 2009, as well as a comment on the instability caused by fractional-reserve banking.
The first 50BTC block reward went to address 1A1zP1eP5QGefi2DMPTfTL5SLmv7DivfNa and has yet to be spent (2011-03-04).
Raw block data
The raw hex version of the Genesis block looks like:
00000000 01 00 00 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................
00000010 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................
00000020 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 3B A3 ED FD 7A 7B 12 B2 7A .......;£íýz{.²z
00000030 C7 2C 3E 67 76 8F 61 7F C8 1B C3 88 8A 51 32 3A Ç,>gv.a.È.ÈŠQ2:
00000040 9F B8 AA 4B 1E 5E 4A 29 AB 5F 49 FF FF 00 1D 1D Ÿ¸ªK.^J)«_Iÿÿ...
00000050 AC 2B 7C 01 01 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ¬+|.............
00000060 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................
00000070 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 FF FF FF FF 4D 04 FF .........ÿÿÿÿM.ÿ
00000080 FF 00 1D 01 04 45 54 68 65 20 54 69 6D 65 73 20 ÿ....EThe Times
00000090 30 33 2F 4A 61 6E 2F 32 30 30 39 20 43 68 61 6E 03/Jan/2009 Chan
000000A0 63 65 6C 6C 6F 72 20 6F 6E 20 62 72 69 6E 6B 20 cellor on brink
000000B0 6F 66 20 73 65 63 6F 6E 64 20 62 61 69 6C 6F 75 of second bailou
000000C0 74 20 66 6F 72 20 62 61 6E 6B 73 FF FF FF FF 01 t for banksÿÿÿÿ.
000000D0 00 F2 05 2A 01 00 00 00 43 41 04 67 8A FD B0 FE .ò.*....CA.gŠý°þ
000000E0 55 48 27 19 67 F1 A6 71 30 B7 10 5C D6 A8 28 E0 UH'.gñ¦q0·.\Ö¨(à
000000F0 39 09 A6 79 62 E0 EA 1F 61 DE B6 49 F6 BC 3F 4C 9.¦ybàê.aÞ¶Iö¼?L
00000100 EF 38 C4 F3 55 04 E5 1E C1 12 DE 5C 38 4D F7 BA ï8ÄóU.å.Á.Þ\8M÷º
00000110 0B 8D 57 8A 4C 70 2B 6B F1 1D 5F AC 00 00 00 00 ..WŠLp+kñ._¬....
Broken down it looks like this:
01000000 - version 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 - prev block 3BA3EDFD7A7B12B27AC72C3E67768F617FC81BC3888A51323A9FB8AA4B1E5E4A - merkle root 29AB5F49 - timestamp FFFF001D - bits 1DAC2B7C - nonce 01 - number of transactions 01000000 - version 01 - input 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000FFFFFFFF - prev output 4D - script length 04FFFF001D0104455468652054696D65732030332F4A616E2F32303039204368616E63656C6C6F72206F6E206272696E6B206F66207365636F6E64206261696C6F757420666F722062616E6B73 - scriptsig FFFFFFFF - sequence 01 - outputs 00F2052A01000000 - 50 BTC 43 - pk_script length 4104678AFDB0FE5548271967F1A67130B7105CD6A828E03909A67962E0EA1F61DEB649F6BC3F4CEF38C4F35504E51EC112DE5C384DF7BA0B8D578A4C702B6BF11D5FAC - pk_script 00000000 - lock time