January 3, 2009

2009-01-03 18:15 UTC

Held by The Museum. Not for sale.

The genesis block

The genesis block
Photo: Steve Jurvetson · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
The first Bitcoin block is mined with a newspaper headline written into it.
Source ↗

Questions and answers

When exactly did the genesis block take place?
It is recorded at 2009-01-03 18:15 UTC — January 3, 2009 in Coordinated Universal Time. Every minute in this registry is stored in UTC so it reads the same anywhere in the world.
Can this minute be bought?
No. Museum minutes are curated historical entries held permanently by the registry and are never for sale. The minutes around them can be claimed.
What does owning a minute mean?
Buy The Time is a novelty registry. Nobody buys real time or property — an owner buys a permanent, public entry against one UTC minute in this database, visible to everyone.
Independent proof

Recorded on the Bitcoin blockchain

Confirmed on October 1, 2026 in block 969,500. Anyone can verify this record exists, without us.

SHA-256 93befdc2d7affac12b717a587af12009296a6a00d35b34312eb5db707c9a1c4a

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Adjacent minutes

Every minute within five minutes of this one is unclaimed.