The Bitcoin Genesis Block

On January 3, 2009, Satoshi Nakamoto mined the first Bitcoin block — Block #0, the Genesis Block. Embedded in its coinbase transaction was a message:

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

A timestamp. A critique. A declaration. The first block of a decentralized financial system was built with a news headline as its foundation stone.

Nobody knows who Satoshi is. The coins in the Genesis Block have never moved.