Birth of Bitcoin
Recorded HistoryBirth of Bitcoin
The genesis block.
On 3 January 2009 the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto mined the first Bitcoin block. Its coinbase field carries a headline from that day’s London newspaper: “The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks.”
It ties the block to a public date.
3 January 2009, placed on the scale of its era on a line leading toward now.
- Period
- 3 January 2009
- Edition
- 1/1
- Status
- Not Released
Background artwork
Cinematic background showing a chain of glowing blocks. An illustration generated with an AI image tool for TIME. It is an artistic depiction, not a photograph or a record of the moment. It is symbolic.