The Genesis Block

On January 3, 2009, Satoshi Nakamoto mined the first Bitcoin block — Block 0. Hidden inside was a message: 'Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks.' That headline from The Times of London wasn't just a timestamp. It was a manifesto. While banks got bailouts, Satoshi was building the exit. The Genesis Block contained a reward of 50 BTC — worth about $0 at the time. Today? That's over 400,000 BLTs at your local deli. Not a bad sandwich run.