Sort:  

Awesome, thanks for this response!

That's @null and @temp - all three accounts are part of the initial bootstrapping configuration of the blockchain.

@null makes sense. Does @temp still have a special meaning?

The transactions to create accounts via mining were proof-of-work operations, pow, and later pow2 - the resulting rewards could be either vested to existing or new accounts

So, to create a new account, the actual operation was vesting? A miner used his rewards to vest to a non-existent username?

The account was created automatically if the miner specified in the config file didn't exist yet when it received a mining reward. If you look on steemd, there is a "Mined" field which tells you if the account was mined or not.

In the days of pow mining, it was basically a requirement for a person to have multiple accounts, otherwise you'd be fenced out of mining for hours at a time

Yes, good remark about the mined field. I thought that field meant that the account mined in the early days. It makes sense what you say, that it actually means that it was created through mining.

The account was created automatically if the miner specified in the config file didn't exist yet when it received a mining reward.

That sounds interesting. So, there was a config file for every user back then?

So, there was a config file for every user back then?

Miners had to run their own steemd nodes. Most people did not mine, just like most people now don't run witnesses.

It was sort of a two-step process. Step 1 was to complete a proof-of-work and get added to a queue for a turn to validate a block. Step 2 was for the miner at the top of the queue to witness a block as the 21st witness.

If I recall correctly, it was step 2 when the account got created.

Thank you, this gives us a better understanding on how the mining process worked.

It is an account "without" keys. Submitting blockchain transactions via @temp does not need the transaction to be signed by any key. It's kind of a "public account".

Thanks! That explains the unusual test-like posts on it. Lucky it doesn't have too much STEEM/SP/RCs! :D

By the way, I discovered another account, id #0. That's @miners.

Hi, I'm @temp, AMA :)

Hmm, I'd better make it count, you only have 1 comment left with your RCs.

When moon? :D