# Discrete genesis

The genesis block is byte-for-byte consensus data, frozen since mainnet started
on 2026-07-15. Every node must agree on it. This document summarizes its public
allocation, unlock schedule, and pinned network identifiers.

## What genesis contains

The genesis coinbase carries the entire **Discrete Treasury Reserve** as
per-output-unlocked `CoinbaseOutput`s — one batch per recipient — in a single
transaction. This is possible because Discrete added a per-output `unlockHeight`
to the wire (see the [wire format](pq-wire-format.md)), so staggered unlock
times fit in one coinbase tx and `GENESIS_COINBASE_TX_HEX` remains the single
frozen artifact.

The genesis coinbase `extra` also carries a headline, embedded as a
`TX_EXTRA_NONCE` — Discrete's analogue of Bitcoin's *"The Times 03/Jan/2009
Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks"*:

> Reuters 08/Jul/2026 — Crypto firms prepare defenses as quantum threat to encryption draws nearer

The block timestamp was captured when this genesis was regenerated after the
headline. It is protocol metadata, not a publication-time or no-premine proof.
The headline and timestamp establish only that the genesis artifact was assembled
no earlier than the cited article; they do not prove when the network was publicly
announced or exclude private mining after that date.

### Monetary policy

- **Total initial emission target:** 21,000,000 XDS (the emission-curve ceiling).
- **Treasury Reserve:** 1,050,000 XDS — **5%** of the ceiling. The reserve counts
  *within* the cap (it reduces ongoing block reward; it is not minted on top).
- **No ICO. No private sale. No separate dev tax.** The reserve is a locked
  allocation that unlocks gradually.
- **Treasury use is limited to:** development, audits, infrastructure, listings,
  documentation, and grants.

### Unlock schedule

- **50,000 XDS per batch** (5,000,000 atoms at `CRYPTONOTE_DISPLAY_DECIMAL_POINT
  = 2`).
- **21 batches total** = 1,050,000 XDS.
- **Unlocked gradually over 5 years.** Batch *k* (1-based) unlocks at height
  `(k-1) × 87,600`. At a 90 s block target, 87,600 blocks ≈ one quarter, so one
  batch unlocks each quarter; the last unlocks at height 1,752,000 ≈ 5.0 years.
  Batch 1 (unlock height 0) is spendable from genesis.

| Batch | Amount (XDS) | Unlock height |
|------:|-------------:|--------------:|
| 1  | 50,000 | 0         |
| 2  | 50,000 | 87,600    |
| 3  | 50,000 | 175,200   |
| 4  | 50,000 | 262,800   |
| 5  | 50,000 | 350,400   |
| 6  | 50,000 | 438,000   |
| 7  | 50,000 | 525,600   |
| 8  | 50,000 | 613,200   |
| 9  | 50,000 | 700,800   |
| 10 | 50,000 | 788,400   |
| 11 | 50,000 | 876,000   |
| 12 | 50,000 | 963,600   |
| 13 | 50,000 | 1,051,200 |
| 14 | 50,000 | 1,138,800 |
| 15 | 50,000 | 1,226,400 |
| 16 | 50,000 | 1,314,000 |
| 17 | 50,000 | 1,401,600 |
| 18 | 50,000 | 1,489,200 |
| 19 | 50,000 | 1,576,800 |
| 20 | 50,000 | 1,664,400 |
| 21 | 50,000 | 1,752,000 |

**Genesis block timestamp:** 2026-07-15 13:49:13 UTC (`1784123353`).
The timestamp was captured at the requested regeneration step and is pinned as
`GENESIS_BLOCK_TIMESTAMP`; the Reuters 08/Jul/2026 headline remains the canonical
news anchor. Neither value is a proof of fair launch.

**Genesis block hash (mainnet):**
`06c4df2cd46045b9fbc1664a10f1bdf0355f672c8349bbd29d671bf48e83d7bd`
(pinned by `tests/test_pq_genesis.cpp`).

## Genesis and DiscretePower

Genesis is the trusted network anchor, not a normally mined block. The node
skips both ML-DSA signature verification and DiscretePower validation at height
0. The serialized block carries a 3,309-byte all-zero `signature` placeholder so
it has the same wire shape as later blocks. The unsigned block-hashing blob
excludes that field, while the block ID commits to it through the same 32-byte
SHAKE-256 signature witness used by every later block.

Changing only the non-genesis yespower-discrete work function therefore does
**not** require genesis regeneration: no DiscretePower result is stored in the
block ID, and genesis has no miner identity capable of signing for its 21
independent Treasury recipients. Changing the block-ID/witness construction, or
regenerating timestamp, nonce, signature placeholder, or coinbase data, would
instead create a different network anchor and require an intentional network
reset plus updates to the pinned genesis ID and every genesis-bound artifact. It
provides no additional PoW validation for height 0.