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December 11, 2013, 05:53:58 PM Last edit: December 11, 2013, 06:08:15 PM by DeathAndTaxes |
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There is no IP address of the genesis (or any block). The only thing a peer (any peer) can know for certain is the IP address that sent them the block which isn't necessarily the person who created it.
Example: A hypothetical network has 5 peers/nodes; A, B, C, D, E.
Now lets assume the following connections exist. A is connected to B & E. B is connected to A, C, & D. C is connected to B. D is connected to B & E. E is connected to A & D.
Node A generates a block and relays it to B who relays it to C & D, and D relays it on to E. Normally A would also relay to node E but lets assume A decides to be sneaky and doesn't. Nothing requires A to relay a block to all nodes, A could even "relay" the block to E after a long delay making it seem like A learned of the block after E did.
There is no IP address in the block itself (and the blockchain is simply a list of blocks).
Now each node can record an IP address of where they first "learned" of the new block but it isn't going to be the same for each node.
So who mined it? Nobody knows for sure except A. Node B only knows it first saw the block from Node A. Nodes C & D only know they first saw the block from Node B. Node E only knows it first saw the block from Node D.
Now this is a small, static, and simple network. The real Bitcoin network has >100,000 full nodes active right now. Not only is the number of nodes continually changing, many nodes are not online all the time, and when they reconnect they connect to random peers so the number of nodes, the unique list of nodes, the status of nodes, and the connections between nodes are in continual change. Now consider that IP address can only be recorded by each node and only tells them where they first saw a block (or transaction). Now consider that true IP address can be hidden by proxy, vpn, or tor. Now consider that a node could create temporary relay nodes using vps and only relay to them who then relay to the rest of the network. The originating node isn't known by any other node of the network.
For the OP the quoted section is utter crap, someone making up stuff to sound important. The dumbest part is the genesis block isn't relayed. It is hardcoded into each client. It is how all clients can be assured they are part of the Bitcoin network. Nobody relays it because everyone already knows it. When you install a new client on a new computer the only node is already knows about is block #0 (the genesis block) and it builds the chain off that by requesting other blocks and verifying they fit the chain.
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