The Genesis Block
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This is a question for the programmers, developers, and miners of the forum from someone who knows very little.
Who is to say Bitcoin’s open source code isn’t a fork of something else? Would there be a way to hide the true genesis block and clone it in the form of Bitcoin’s genesis block which started what we can ‘see’ on the blockchain?
And if there is, does that mean there is a Super-Bitcoin to Bitcoin that the original developer intended as some sort of ‘double-encrypted’ ledger?
Best,
Horizon -
We have the commit history from Git from Satoshi himself. He wrote it from scratch. It’s definitely not a fork of something else.
The genesis block was formed by taking the SHA-256 hash of a newspaper headline. There’s no mystery there.
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Thanks for clarification Kevlar.
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I guess I have a fantasy Satoshi pulls another rabbit out of his hat. Chris in the Digital Disruption interview I believe said there are elements in the open source code that haven’t been implemented yet - did I hear that correctly regarding ewallets? What are some of the features we have yet to see? Thanks
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Sure. The payment protocol is one, coin control is another.
Mike Hearn did a great discussion on the payment protocol here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=300809.0
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Nice info, thanks.
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[quote name=“Kevlar” post=“42903” timestamp=“1386750201”]
We have the commit history from Git from Satoshi himself. He wrote it from scratch. It’s definitely not a fork of something else.The genesis block was formed by taking the SHA-256 hash of a newspaper headline. There’s no mystery there.
[/quote]+1 rep if you can give me the title of the headline! Super curious. Cheers 8)
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[quote name=“mattmct” post=“43157” timestamp=“1386791924”]
[quote author=Kevlar link=topic=5806.msg42903#msg42903 date=1386750201]
We have the commit history from Git from Satoshi himself. He wrote it from scratch. It’s definitely not a fork of something else.The genesis block was formed by taking the SHA-256 hash of a newspaper headline. There’s no mystery there.
[/quote]+1 rep if you can give me the title of the headline! Super curious. Cheers 8)
[/quote]The specific string used was “The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks”.
This is significant because it demonstrates that Satoshi couldn’t possibly have created the genesis block prior to that date, and therefore didn’t pre-mine a bunch of coins before releasing the blockchain.
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[quote name=“Kevlar” post=“43161” timestamp=“1386792785”]
[quote author=mattmct link=topic=5806.msg43157#msg43157 date=1386791924]
[quote author=Kevlar link=topic=5806.msg42903#msg42903 date=1386750201]
We have the commit history from Git from Satoshi himself. He wrote it from scratch. It’s definitely not a fork of something else.The genesis block was formed by taking the SHA-256 hash of a newspaper headline. There’s no mystery there.
[/quote]+1 rep if you can give me the title of the headline! Super curious. Cheers 8)
[/quote]The specific string used was “The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks”.
This is significant because it demonstrates that Satoshi couldn’t possibly have created the genesis block prior to that date, and therefore didn’t pre-mine a bunch of coins before releasing the blockchain.
[/quote]Awesome, many thanks! Ah yes I remember now when I was reading up on Satoshi. Very good point! Perfect title he used. His vision is part of the reason I have a long term faith in virtual currencies.
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Any chance we see coins merge on a consistent basis?
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Also the internet is two main things, hypertext and email. Which is which, when it comes to FTC and how do you personally benefit from mining FTC, barring no technological innovation here with a BIG yet? How do we all benefit by a - community message board code - if internet registries, or cyptos create “digital countries” just like the five RIRs…
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In a hypothetical digital Feathercoin “country” you can set up a complex ecosystem anyway like RIR equivalency which is continent-based but price is price in a digital continent or country…
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[quote name=“Horizon” post=“43303” timestamp=“1386824950”]
- Any chance we see coins merge on a consistent basis?
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The blockchains? Or the communities?
The blockchains can’t merge. They’re incompatible with anything but themselves. It’s like digital specification where because the two populations were separated, their growth was so different they can’t mate and reproduce.
The communities have a LOT of overlap. One of our long-standing forum members picked up the dead PhoenixCoin and bought it back to life. Feathercoin just finished an upstream merge of the Bitcoin/Litecoin client. Sunny King of PPC and Primecoin fame wrote ACP for Feathercoin.
[quote]
- Also the internet is two main things, hypertext and email. Which is which, when it comes to FTC and how do you personally benefit from mining FTC, barring no technological innovation here with a BIG yet? How do we all benefit by a - community message board code - if internet registries, or cyptos create “digital countries” just like the five RIRs…
[/quote]
It’s a whole lot more than that! It’s a technological revolution, an overhaul of our society and the ties that bind it. You personally benefit from mining FTC by increasing the utility of a currency you now own. There’s plenty of room for all the digital countries, and people will vote for the viability with their adoption and acceptance. Isn’t it a great time we live in?
- Any chance we see coins merge on a consistent basis?
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Yeh I just meant hypertext and email are the two central elements of the internet for community interaction.