Happy Birthday Cardano: 9 Years After Genesis Block Is Minted

Cardano's Genesis block was created on September 23, 2017, marking the beginning of the network.

Tomiwabold Olajide · 23 Sep 2026 · 5 min read

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Happy Birthday Cardano: 9 Years After Genesis Block Is Minted

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By
Tomiwabold Olajide

Wed, 23/09/2026 – 13:00

Cardano’s Genesis block was created on September 23, 2017, marking the beginning of the network.

Happy Birthday Cardano: 9 Years After Genesis Block Is Minted

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Cardano is celebrating its ninth anniversary: the first Cardano genesis block was created on September 23, 2017, marking the beginning of the network. The mainnet launched six days later, on September 29, 2017, introducing ADA and beginning Cardano’s journey as a public blockchain.

The crypto community is posting birthday wishes on X, including from non-custodial staking infrastructure provider Everstake and the Cardano Foundation, which highlighted crucial milestones attained by the network.

“Nine years ago, Cardano’s first block was minted. Since then: 2,890 stake pools, 13,978,119 blocks, 123,982,111 transactions, a constitution ratified on-chain, 36,322 votes on 158 governance actions and a vibrant community behind all of it,” the Cardano Foundation wrote.

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Nine years ago, Cardano’s first block was minted.

Since then:
2,890 stake pools.
13,978,119 blocks.
123,982,111 transactions.
A constitution, ratified on-chain.
36,322 votes on 158 governance actions.
And a vibrant community behind all of it.

Here’s to many more years. 🎂 pic.twitter.com/DIv2p1DnOo

— Cardano Foundation (@Cardano_CF) September 23, 2026

The genesis block launch on September 23 marks one of the two important dates in Cardano’s history; the other is September 29, 2017, when the mainnet launched.

Nine years after the first genesis block, Cardano has processed over 123 million transactions and activated 11 major upgrades, moving through Byron, Shelley, Allegra, Mary, Alonzo, Lobster, Vasil, Valentine, Chang, Plomin, and van Rossem.

What comes next?

Everstake explains Cardano’s developments over the past nine years and what’s next, highlighting that the network continues to power its scaling roadmap.