What would you pay for the keys to the genesis block/address - page 2.

Kprawn

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Activity: 1904

Merit: 1074

Even if it was "spendable" ....who would want to spend it? {It's a collectors item}

I would also not trust someone, even Satoshi with being a co-owner of that block. {You do not know, if he made a copy of the private key for himself}

Let's rather leave it there, for the mystery of the origin of Bitcoin to continue. {The virgin coins of Bitcoin} Grin

Bizmark13

sr. member

Activity: 462

Merit: 250

I'm definitely not 100% sure about this but don't many altcoins also use the same genesis block as Bitcoin? I believe this was an intentional design built into many altcoins by their developers as a way of thanking Satoshi for having invented cryptocurrencies in the first place. Assuming this is true and also assuming that they don't also suffer from the same glitch that makes these coins unspendable, then having the keys to the Bitcoin genesis block would allow you to have access to the genesis blocks of many other altcoins, no?

philipma1957

legendary

Activity: 4326

Merit: 8899

'The right to privacy matters'

Quote from: bitgeek on April 19, 2015, 11:55:42 AM

I wouldn't pay more than 65BTC or the equivalent in fiat. It's doesn't have any special value to me and I wouldn't treat it as a collectible.
I'm sure it's worth a lot more to some people, just like art. For one person it's just a pretty picture worth $50. For another, who's a fan of the artist and collects his works it can be worth a million.

yeah I would think to some it has a lot of value. to others it is worth just 65 btc in change.

teukon

legendary

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Quote from: cryptworld on April 19, 2015, 11:49:42 AM

why are not the 50 BTC spendable?

Good question.

Bitcoin Core maintains a local database of transactions. When it receives a new block, it unpacks it, checks it, and adds all if its transactions to this database. Part of the checking process is to ensure that all of the new transactions are based on older ones (transactions already in the database). Thus, the database contains all transactions from all valid blocks relayed by the network.

However, the genesis block is special in that it is not relayed by the network. Bitcoin Core manually inserts the genesis block into a local database of blocks at the beginning of time. Thus, the one transaction in the genesis block is not automatically added to the local database of transactions.

Of course, we could try to "fix" this problem by modifying Bitcoin Core to manually insert this "transaction" into the local database at the beginning of time. Unfortunately, if Satoshi were to then spend these coins, the new clients would happily accept his transaction into a block just as the old clients would reject any blocks including it. Satoshi would have the ability to fork the blockchain; an unacceptable situation.

bitgeek

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Activity: 462

Merit: 251

I wouldn't pay more than 65BTC or the equivalent in fiat. It's doesn't have any special value to me and I wouldn't treat it as a collectible.
I'm sure it's worth a lot more to some people, just like art. For one person it's just a pretty picture worth $50. For another, who's a fan of the artist and collects his works it can be worth a million.

Bit_Happy

legendary

Activity: 2114

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A Great Time to Start Something!

What would you pay for the keys to the genesis block/address?
If the funds were easy to spare, I would pay at least 50 BTC, but only because it is so rare.

cryptworld

hero member

Activity: 714

Merit: 503

Quote from: teukon on April 18, 2015, 05:25:53 PM

Quote from: Hydros on April 18, 2015, 02:59:41 PM

I'd pay quite a large amount for them

. Though I heard that there was a glitch in the code so they are not spendable.

To be clear:

The 50 BTC coinbase output is not spendable.
The 15.44243457 BTC which have since been sent to the corresponding address are spendable.

why are not the 50 BTC spendable?

Sarthak

hero member

Activity: 518

Merit: 501

Error 404: there seems to be nothing here.

Simple! The account holds 65.44243457 BTC! I would send 65.44233457 (0.0001 tx fees)!
No more! No Less Cool

#Like_A_BosS

philipma1957

legendary

Activity: 4326

Merit: 8899

'The right to privacy matters'

Quote from: futureofbitcoin on April 19, 2015, 10:45:05 AM

collector items are usually something you can show to others. For example, you can't really collect a secret that Einstein shared with your great grandfather and passed down to you. There's no verifiability and you can't really show it to anyone.

Pretty much the same with these addresses. I mean I guess you can "show" you have access to it by sending some bitcoins to someone's wallet from that address, but that's not really showing the item itself.

well we could argue all day one way or the other but i do not expect Satoshi to be sending me a pm with full access to that address anytime soon. Wink

futureofbitcoin

sr. member

Activity: 322

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collector items are usually something you can show to others. For example, you can't really collect a secret that Einstein shared with your great grandfather and passed down to you. There's no verifiability and you can't really show it to anyone.

Pretty much the same with these addresses. I mean I guess you can "show" you have access to it by sending some bitcoins to someone's wallet from that address, but that's not really showing the item itself.

philipma1957

legendary

Activity: 4326

Merit: 8899

'The right to privacy matters'

Quote from: randy8777 on April 19, 2015, 04:49:20 AM

i would only pay for the spendable coins plus something extra as people from time to time will donate a few bits to that address. other than that there is no real benefit in having that address.

I would love to own that address with full access to it. But that is for the collector in me. It is truly a one of a kind item.

pitham1

legendary

Activity: 1232

Merit: 1000

Quote from: shorena on April 18, 2015, 01:23:56 PM

Why would you pay that much for just a collectors item? Its not spendable.

With the keys, you can claim you are Satoshi.
And that could be worth a lot. Wink

futureofbitcoin

sr. member

Activity: 322

Merit: 250

How about satoshi takes out the dust coins, and make the genesis key public? Cheesy

Amph

legendary

Activity: 3248

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Quote from: Light on April 19, 2015, 05:05:37 AM

I think you guys are missing the problem with 'buying' keys. You can't actually know if the person you bought them from has retained the key - so you don't actually know if your the sole owner. That being said, I personally wouldn't buy it (except for a profit) - nothing really special I can do with it aside from a signing messages I guess.

well you could just move your btc from there anyway and store them in another wallet with another key, i don't really see the problem here

Light

hero member

Activity: 742

Merit: 502

Circa 2010

I think you guys are missing the problem with 'buying' keys. You can't actually know if the person you bought them from has retained the key - so you don't actually know if your the sole owner. That being said, I personally wouldn't buy it (except for a profit) - nothing really special I can do with it aside from a signing messages I guess.

shorena

copper member

Activity: 1498

Merit: 1528

No I dont escrow anymore.

Quote from: futureofbitcoin on April 19, 2015, 04:41:39 AM

The stupidest question ever in the world, sorry in advance guys.

But what does the genesis block have to do with coinbase (the company?)?

Coinbase is not only the name of a company, but also the name of the transaction that "transfers" newly generated coins into. Its the transaction in a block without input, e.g. this[1]. The genesis block is special as the 50 BTC of its coinbase transaction are not spendable.

[1] https://www.blocktrail.com/BTC/tx/bf1a29cc7bcd0816bc02526aef9c3b3a3089b733c62d69846f4d32d00079fc16

randy8777

legendary

Activity: 896

Merit: 1000

i would only pay for the spendable coins plus something extra as people from time to time will donate a few bits to that address. other than that there is no real benefit in having that address.

futureofbitcoin

sr. member

Activity: 322

Merit: 250

The stupidest question ever in the world, sorry in advance guys.

But what does the genesis block have to do with coinbase (the company?)?

LiteCoinGuy

legendary

Activity: 1148

Merit: 1014

In Satoshi I Trust

i would pay him via paypal 100.000 bucks...(and make a chargeback) Tongue

shorena

copper member

Activity: 1498

Merit: 1528

No I dont escrow anymore.

Quote from: teukon on April 18, 2015, 05:25:53 PM

Quote from: Hydros on April 18, 2015, 02:59:41 PM

I'd pay quite a large amount for them

. Though I heard that there was a glitch in the code so they are not spendable.

To be clear:

The 50 BTC coinbase output is not spendable.
The 15.44243457 BTC which have since been sent to the corresponding address are spendable.

Certainly true, but paying 100 BTC for 15 (spendable) BTC only makes sense if your interest in the private key is beyond profit.

Topic: What would you pay for the keys to the genesis block/address - page 2. (Read 2887 times)