diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 83ac0e5957..7b6da8b559 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -23,6 +23,10 @@ path = "src/bin/client-demo.rs"
 name = "silk-testnode"
 path = "src/bin/testnode.rs"
 
+[[bin]]
+name = "silk-genesis-block"
+path = "src/bin/genesis-block.rs"
+
 [badges]
 codecov = { repository = "loomprotocol/silk", branch = "master", service = "github" }
 
@@ -37,6 +41,7 @@ sha2-asm = {version="0.3", optional=true}
 generic-array = { version = "0.9.0", default-features = false, features = ["serde"] }
 serde = "1.0.27"
 serde_derive = "1.0.27"
+serde_json = "1.0.10"
 ring = "0.12.1"
 untrusted = "0.5.1"
 bincode = "1.0.0"
diff --git a/src/bin/genesis-block.rs b/src/bin/genesis-block.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..875456451b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/bin/genesis-block.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+//! A command-line executable for generating the chain's genesis block.
+
+extern crate ring;
+extern crate serde;
+extern crate serde_json;
+extern crate silk;
+
+use silk::genesis::Genesis;
+use silk::log::verify_slice_u64;
+use silk::logger::Logger;
+use std::sync::mpsc::sync_channel;
+use std::io::stdin;
+
+fn main() {
+    let gen: Genesis = serde_json::from_reader(stdin()).unwrap();
+
+    let (_sender, event_receiver) = sync_channel(100);
+    let (entry_sender, receiver) = sync_channel(100);
+    let mut logger = Logger::new(event_receiver, entry_sender, gen.seed);
+    for tx in gen.create_events() {
+        logger.log_event(tx).unwrap();
+    }
+    drop(logger.sender);
+
+    let entries = receiver.iter().collect::<Vec<_>>();
+    verify_slice_u64(&entries, &gen.seed);
+    println!("[");
+    let len = entries.len();
+    for (i, x) in entries.iter().enumerate() {
+        let s = serde_json::to_string(&x).unwrap();
+
+        let terminator = if i + 1 == len { "" } else { "," };
+        println!("    {}{}", s, terminator);
+    }
+    println!("]");
+}
diff --git a/src/genesis.rs b/src/genesis.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..47d50716bd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/genesis.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,98 @@
+//! A library for generating the chain's genesis block.
+
+use event::{generate_keypair, get_pubkey, sign_claim_data, sign_transaction_data, Event, PublicKey};
+use log::Sha256Hash;
+use ring::rand::{SecureRandom, SystemRandom};
+use ring::signature::Ed25519KeyPair;
+use untrusted::Input;
+
+#[derive(Serialize, Deserialize, Debug)]
+pub struct Creator {
+    pub name: String,
+    pub pubkey: PublicKey,
+    pub tokens: u64,
+}
+
+impl Creator {
+    pub fn new(name: &str, tokens: u64) -> Self {
+        Creator {
+            name: name.to_string(),
+            pubkey: get_pubkey(&generate_keypair()),
+            tokens,
+        }
+    }
+
+    pub fn create_transaction(&self, keypair: &Ed25519KeyPair) -> Event<u64> {
+        let from = Some(get_pubkey(keypair));
+        let to = self.pubkey;
+        let data = self.tokens;
+        let sig = sign_transaction_data(&data, keypair, &to);
+        Event::Transaction {
+            from,
+            to,
+            data,
+            sig,
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+#[derive(Serialize, Deserialize, Debug)]
+pub struct Genesis {
+    pub seed: Sha256Hash,
+    pub pkcs8: Vec<u8>,
+    pub tokens: u64,
+    pub creators: Vec<Creator>,
+}
+
+impl Genesis {
+    pub fn new(tokens: u64, creators: Vec<Creator>) -> Self {
+        let rnd = SystemRandom::new();
+        let mut seed_arr = [0; 32];
+        rnd.fill(&mut seed_arr).unwrap();
+        let seed = *Sha256Hash::from_slice(&seed_arr);
+        let pkcs8 = Ed25519KeyPair::generate_pkcs8(&rnd).unwrap().to_vec();
+        Genesis {
+            seed,
+            pkcs8,
+            tokens,
+            creators,
+        }
+    }
+
+    pub fn create_events(&self) -> Vec<Event<u64>> {
+        let org_keypair = Ed25519KeyPair::from_pkcs8(Input::from(&self.pkcs8)).unwrap();
+        let sig = sign_claim_data(&self.tokens, &org_keypair);
+        let event0 = Event::new_claim(get_pubkey(&org_keypair), self.tokens, sig);
+        let mut events = vec![event0];
+
+        for creator in &self.creators {
+            let tx = creator.create_transaction(&org_keypair);
+            events.push(tx);
+        }
+
+        events
+    }
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+    use event::verify_event;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_creator_transaction() {
+        assert!(verify_event(&Creator::new("Satoshi", 42)
+            .create_transaction(&generate_keypair())));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_create_events() {
+        assert_eq!(Genesis::new(100, vec![]).create_events().len(), 1);
+        assert_eq!(
+            Genesis::new(100, vec![Creator::new("Satoshi", 42)])
+                .create_events()
+                .len(),
+            2
+        );
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index 588c798493..78dbeadbcd 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 pub mod log;
 pub mod logger;
 pub mod event;
+pub mod genesis;
 pub mod historian;
 pub mod accountant;
 pub mod accountant_skel;
diff --git a/src/logger.rs b/src/logger.rs
index ce8040711c..53ad387c2d 100644
--- a/src/logger.rs
+++ b/src/logger.rs
@@ -110,6 +110,8 @@ mod tests {
     use super::*;
     use log::*;
     use event::*;
+    use genesis::*;
+    use std::sync::mpsc::sync_channel;
 
     #[test]
     fn test_bad_event_signature() {
@@ -132,4 +134,27 @@ mod tests {
         assert!(verify_event_and_reserve_signature(&mut sigs, &event0));
         assert!(!verify_event_and_reserve_signature(&mut sigs, &event0));
     }
+
+    fn run_genesis(gen: &Genesis) -> Vec<Entry<u64>> {
+        let (_sender, event_receiver) = sync_channel(100);
+        let (entry_sender, receiver) = sync_channel(100);
+        let mut logger = Logger::new(event_receiver, entry_sender, gen.seed);
+        for tx in gen.create_events() {
+            logger.log_event(tx).unwrap();
+        }
+        drop(logger.sender);
+        receiver.iter().collect::<Vec<_>>()
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_genesis_no_creators() {
+        let gen = Genesis::new(100, vec![]);
+        assert!(verify_slice_u64(&run_genesis(&gen), &gen.seed));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_genesis() {
+        let gen = Genesis::new(100, vec![Creator::new("Satoshi", 42)]);
+        assert!(verify_slice_u64(&run_genesis(&gen), &gen.seed));
+    }
 }