Hello fellow steemians, I'm glad to be amongst this community, and I'm thankful to be posting another homework post again on the topic **The Genesis block**. With lectures given by @awesononso. And on the question **1a) What is the Genesis block? b) What are the significances of the Genesis Block? c) Explore the Bitcoin Genesis block and indicate how many transactions so far and the number of bitcoins.** And I'll be answering them in the following manner; 1a) **

What is the Genesis block?

** https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmdyJmuCbq9bYV61yBx6oLcWkfRueLhRY8WZJxP7QsPgN1/3jpR3paJ37V8JxyWvtbhvcm5k3roJwHBR4WTALx7XaoRovVqjMuc277yhayvFgYm4NP2wxYQqdtVeMqw6ttGYBzffHX4B6NXPXywguwqPxBSiWAG1D6YN7XofoWtugS3bofMx.png [Source](https://steemit.com/hive-108451/@awesononso/steemit-crypto-academy-season-4-beginners-course-task-3-the-genesis-block) The Genesis Block is the first mined block of a blockchain and there is no other block before it. All other blocks of the blockchain are linked by hash to the Genesis block of that blockchain. It is usually denoted by **block 0** or **block 1** b)**

What are the significance of the Genesis Block?

** ![0_MG8jD8toFtJo0w9F.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmYY3wxQaRuu2zazACCumUNbBFasCDknKqtGrWMCw6MzbT/0_MG8jD8toFtJo0w9F.png) [Source](https://tecracoin.medium.com/what-is-genesis-block-and-why-genesis-block-is-needed-1b37d4b75e43) The Genesis Block serves as the foundation block for a blockchain, meaning every other block is formed following the Genesis Block It serves as the starting block whereby all other blocks are linked to it using a hash. - It is from the Genesis Block that defines how the other blocks are formed to make up the other blockchain. - Without the Genesis Block (the first ever block) the crypto world would not exist. - It is a foundation on which the entire blockchain is built on, and if it wasn't built right, the entire blockchain would be destroyed. - It serves as the backbone of any blockchain,the starting point of a chain. c)**

Explore the Bitcoin Genesis Block and indicate how many transactions so far and the number of Bitcoins so far

** To explore the Bitcoin Genesis Block, I typed Bitcoin explorer on my browser page which took me to this page 👇 ![Screenshot_20220108-082526_1.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmX1siBFvvaxJCoXHPkT91rRzCsKRvHJkXnrZpeMNdXb3z/Screenshot_20220108-082526_1.png) Then I inputted this hash 000000000019d6689c085ae165831e934ff763ae46a2a6c172b3f1b60a8ce26f in the search bar on the top right hand side, and hit on search. To get to this page 👇 ![Screenshot_20220108-082541_1.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmTmvu9bsypJC1KD4LnDBfYko6XwQiQYL3PHRFm8dEfsw1/Screenshot_20220108-082541_1.png) The Genesis block has 717,691 confirmations so far from the time it was first mined in January 03 2009 at 7:15 GMT+1 till date. The number of Bitcoins is 50BTC ($2,094,771.00) *Thanks for reading, I'll be seeing you in my next homework post*