Bitcoin Genesis Block: The Full Story of Block 0 (January 3, 2009)

The complete story of the Bitcoin genesis block: the hidden Times headline, the exact date and hash, why the 50 BTC reward can never be spent, and how Block 0 launched the blockchain era.

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Quick Answer: Why is the genesis block unspendable?

The Bitcoin genesis block's 50 BTC reward is unspendable because its coinbase output was never inserted into the UTXO set. Every full node therefore rejects any attempt to spend it. This behavior has been preserved since the original client — it is a consensus fact, not a wallet glitch. The coins are not 'locked by Satoshi's password'; they were never registered as spendable outputs.

Key Facts

Date & time

January 3, 2009 · 18:15:05 UTC

Block hash

000000000019d6689c085ae165831e934ff763ae46a2a6c172b3f1b60a8ce26f

Reward

50 BTC · permanently unspendable

Coinbase message

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is the genesis block unspendable?

The genesis block's coinbase transaction was never added to Bitcoin's UTXO (unspent transaction output) database. Because nodes validate spends against that database, any transaction trying to use the genesis reward fails. Later Bitcoin software kept this special case, so the first 50 BTC remain permanently out of circulation.

Can the 50 BTC in the genesis block ever be spent?

Not under today's consensus rules. Making them spendable would require a hard fork that the network has no reason to adopt. The genesis address 1A1zP1eP5QGefi2DMPTfTL5SLmv7DivfNa has also received large tribute donations that Satoshi has never moved.

What is the hash of the Bitcoin genesis block?

The genesis block's hash is 000000000019d6689c085ae165831e934ff763ae46a2a6c172b3f1b60a8ce26f. The leading zeros show it met the initial proof-of-work difficulty — even Block 0 followed the same mining rules as later blocks.

What message did Satoshi put in the genesis block?

Satoshi embedded 'The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks' — that day's London Times front-page headline. It proves the block was not created earlier and frames Bitcoin as a response to the 2008 banking crisis.

When exactly was the Bitcoin genesis block mined?

January 3, 2009 at 18:15:05 UTC. Block 1 followed on January 9 with the v0.1 release, and on January 12 Satoshi sent 10 BTC to Hal Finney in block 170 — the first person-to-person Bitcoin transaction.

What is the genesis block in Bitcoin?

Block 0 is the hardcoded root of the Bitcoin blockchain. Every node validates history back to this exact block. It contains one coinbase transaction, no previous-block reference, and the Times headline in its coinbase data.