diff --git a/libethereum/BlockInfo.cpp b/libethereum/BlockInfo.cpp
index 78059c42f..ea28a2971 100644
--- a/libethereum/BlockInfo.cpp
+++ b/libethereum/BlockInfo.cpp
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 #include "Dagger.h"
 #include "Exceptions.h"
 #include "RLP.h"
+#include "State.h"
 #include "BlockInfo.h"
 using namespace std;
 using namespace eth;
@@ -42,7 +43,20 @@ bytes BlockInfo::createGenesisBlock()
 {
 	RLPStream block(3);
 	auto sha3EmptyList = sha3(RLPEmptyList);
-	block.appendList(9) << h256() << sha3EmptyList << h160() << h256() << sha3EmptyList << c_genesisDifficulty << (uint)0 << string() << (uint)0;
+
+	h256 stateRoot;
+	{
+		BasicMap db;
+		TrieDB<Address, BasicMap> state(&db);
+		state.init();
+		eth::commit(genesisState(), db, state);
+		stateRoot = state.root();
+		cout << "--- Genesis state_root=" << stateRoot << endl;
+		clog << state;
+		clog << db;
+	}
+
+	block.appendList(9) << h256() << sha3EmptyList << h160() << stateRoot << sha3EmptyList << c_genesisDifficulty << (uint)0 << string() << (uint)0;
 	block.appendRaw(RLPEmptyList);
 	block.appendRaw(RLPEmptyList);
 	return block.out();
diff --git a/libethereum/Common.cpp b/libethereum/Common.cpp
index 60b897253..989e34937 100644
--- a/libethereum/Common.cpp
+++ b/libethereum/Common.cpp
@@ -36,11 +36,26 @@
 using namespace std;
 using namespace eth;
 
-#if NDEBUG
-u256 const eth::c_genesisDifficulty = (u256)1 << 22;
-#else
-u256 const eth::c_genesisDifficulty = (u256)1 << 22;
-#endif
+// Logging
+bool eth::g_debugEnabled[256] = {0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, true, true, true, true, true, true};
+char const* g_debugName[256] = {0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, ">>>", "<<<", "LOG", "---", "***", "!!!"};
+
+void eth::simpleDebugOut(std::string const& _s, unsigned char _id)
+{
+	// TODO: Time & thread.
+	if (g_debugEnabled[_id])
+		std::cout << (g_debugName[_id] ? g_debugName[_id] : "   ") << " " << _s << std::endl << std::flush;
+}
+
+std::function<void(std::string const&, unsigned char)> eth::g_debugPost = simpleDebugOut;
+std::function<void(char, std::string const&)> eth::g_syslogPost =
+	[](char _c, string const& _s)
+	{
+		if (_c == 'C')
+			simpleDebugOut(_s, LogChannel);
+		else
+			simpleDebugOut("<binary>", LogChannel);
+	};
 
 std::string eth::escaped(std::string const& _s, bool _all)
 {
diff --git a/libethereum/Common.h b/libethereum/Common.h
index 65adbdf93..13511bd06 100644
--- a/libethereum/Common.h
+++ b/libethereum/Common.h
@@ -61,8 +61,6 @@ using u160s = std::vector<u160>;
 using u256Set = std::set<u256>;
 using u160Set = std::set<u160>;
 
-extern const u256 c_genesisDifficulty;
-
 template <class T, class Out> inline void toBigEndian(T _val, Out& o_out);
 template <class T, class In> inline T fromBigEndian(In const& _bytes);
 
@@ -139,6 +137,84 @@ using HexMap = std::map<bytes, std::string>;
 static const u256 Invalid256 = ~(u256)0;
 static const bytes NullBytes;
 
+
+/// Logging
+class NullOutputStream
+{
+public:
+	template <class T> NullOutputStream& operator<<(T const&) { return *this; }
+};
+
+extern bool g_debugEnabled[256];
+static const uint8_t WarnChannel = 255;
+static const uint8_t NoteChannel = 254;
+static const uint8_t DebugChannel = 253;
+static const uint8_t LogChannel = 252;
+static const uint8_t LeftChannel = 251;
+static const uint8_t RightChannel = 250;
+// Unused for now.
+/*template <uint8_t _Channel> struct LogName { static const char constexpr* name = "   "; };
+template <> struct LogName<LeftChannel> { static const char constexpr* name = "<<<"; };
+template <> struct LogName<RightChannel> { static const char constexpr* name = ">>>"; };
+template <> struct LogName<WarnChannel> { static const char constexpr* name = "!!!"; };
+template <> struct LogName<NoteChannel> { static const char constexpr* name = "***"; };
+template <> struct LogName<DebugChannel> { static const char constexpr*  name = "---"; };
+template <> struct LogName<LogChannel> { static const char constexpr* name = "LOG"; };*/
+
+extern std::function<void(std::string const&, unsigned char)> g_debugPost;
+extern std::function<void(char, std::string const&)> g_syslogPost;
+
+void simpleDebugOut(std::string const&, unsigned char);
+
+template <unsigned char _Id = 0, bool _AutoSpacing = true>
+class DebugOutputStream
+{
+public:
+	DebugOutputStream(char const* _start = "    ") { sstr << _start; }
+	~DebugOutputStream() { g_debugPost(sstr.str(), _Id); }
+	template <class T> DebugOutputStream& operator<<(T const& _t) { if (_AutoSpacing && sstr.str().size() && sstr.str().back() != ' ') sstr << " "; sstr << _t; return *this; }
+	std::stringstream sstr;
+};
+
+template <bool _AutoSpacing = true>
+class SysLogOutputStream
+{
+public:
+	SysLogOutputStream() {}
+	~SysLogOutputStream() { if (sstr.str().size()) g_syslogPost('C', sstr.str()); }
+	template <class T> SysLogOutputStream& operator<<(T const& _t) { if (_AutoSpacing && sstr.str().size() && sstr.str().back() != ' ') sstr << " "; sstr << _t; return *this; }
+	static void write(char _type, std::string const& _s) { g_syslogPost(_type, _s); }
+	template <class _T> static void writePod(char _type, _T const& _s) { char const* begin = (char const*)&_s; char const* end = (char const*)&_s + sizeof(_T); g_syslogPost(_type, std::string(begin, end)); }
+	std::stringstream sstr;
+};
+
+// Dirties the global namespace, but oh so convenient...
+#define cnote eth::DebugOutputStream<eth::NoteChannel, true>()
+#define cwarn eth::DebugOutputStream<eth::WarnChannel, true>()
+
+#define nbug(X) if (true) {} else eth::NullOutputStream()
+#define nsbug(X) if (true) {} else eth::NullOutputStream()
+#define ndebug if (true) {} else eth::NullOutputStream()
+
+#if NDEBUG
+#define cbug(X) nbug(X)
+#define csbug(X) nsbug(X)
+#define cdebug ndebug
+#else
+#define cbug(X) eth::DebugOutputStream<X>()
+#define csbug(X) eth::DebugOutputStream<X, false>()
+#define cdebug eth::DebugOutputStream<lb::DebugChannel, true>()
+#endif
+
+#define clog eth::SysLogOutputStream<true>()
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
 /// Converts arbitrary value to string representation using std::stringstream.
 template <class _T>
 std::string toString(_T const& _t)
diff --git a/libethereum/State.cpp b/libethereum/State.cpp
index c6fa0ee33..1865a18c3 100644
--- a/libethereum/State.cpp
+++ b/libethereum/State.cpp
@@ -53,6 +53,24 @@ u256 const State::c_newContractFee = 60000;
 u256 const State::c_txFee = 0;
 u256 const State::c_blockReward = 1000000000;
 
+#if NDEBUG
+u256 const eth::c_genesisDifficulty = (u256)1 << 22;
+#else
+u256 const eth::c_genesisDifficulty = (u256)1 << 22;
+#endif
+
+std::map<Address, AddressState> const& eth::genesisState()
+{
+	static std::map<Address, AddressState> s_ret;
+	if (s_ret.empty())
+	{
+		// Initialise.
+		s_ret[Address(fromUserHex("812413ae7e515a3bcaf7b3444116527bce958c02"))] = AddressState(u256(1) << 200, 0);
+		s_ret[Address(fromUserHex("93658b04240e4bd4046fd2d6d417d20f146f4b43"))] = AddressState(u256(1) << 200, 0);
+	}
+	return s_ret;
+}
+
 Overlay State::openDB(std::string _path, bool _killExisting)
 {
 	if (_path.empty())
@@ -71,9 +89,16 @@ Overlay State::openDB(std::string _path, bool _killExisting)
 State::State(Address _coinbaseAddress, Overlay const& _db): m_db(_db), m_state(&m_db), m_ourAddress(_coinbaseAddress)
 {
 	secp256k1_start();
+
+	// Initialise to the state entailed by the genesis block; this guarantees the trie is built correctly.
 	m_state.init();
+	eth::commit(genesisState(), m_db, m_state);
+	cout << "State::State: state root initialised to " << m_state.root() << endl;
+
 	m_previousBlock = BlockInfo::genesis();
 	resetCurrent();
+
+	assert(m_state.root() == m_previousBlock.stateRoot);
 }
 
 void State::ensureCached(Address _a, bool _requireMemory, bool _forceCreate) const
@@ -112,29 +137,7 @@ void State::ensureCached(Address _a, bool _requireMemory, bool _forceCreate) con
 
 void State::commit()
 {
-	for (auto const& i: m_cache)
-		if (i.second.type() == AddressType::Dead)
-			m_state.remove(i.first);
-		else
-		{
-			RLPStream s(i.second.type() == AddressType::Contract ? 3 : 2);
-			s << i.second.balance() << i.second.nonce();
-			if (i.second.type() == AddressType::Contract)
-			{
-				if (i.second.haveMemory())
-				{
-					TrieDB<u256, Overlay> memdb(&m_db);
-					memdb.init();
-					for (auto const& j: i.second.memory())
-						if (j.second)
-							memdb.insert(j.first, rlp(j.second));
-					s << memdb.root();
-				}
-				else
-					s << i.second.oldRoot();
-			}
-			m_state.insert(i.first, &s.out());
-		}
+	eth::commit(m_cache, m_db, m_state);
 	m_cache.clear();
 }
 
diff --git a/libethereum/State.h b/libethereum/State.h
index d939b1c13..4bb81edea 100644
--- a/libethereum/State.h
+++ b/libethereum/State.h
@@ -39,6 +39,9 @@ namespace eth
 
 class BlockChain;
 
+extern const u256 c_genesisDifficulty;
+std::map<Address, AddressState> const& genesisState();
+
 /**
  * @brief Model of the current state of the ledger.
  * Maintains current ledger (m_current) as a fast hash-map. This is hashed only when required (i.e. to create or verify a block).
@@ -158,7 +161,7 @@ private:
 	/// exist in the DB.
 	void ensureCached(Address _a, bool _requireMemory, bool _forceCreate) const;
 
-	/// Commit all changes waiting in the address cache.
+	/// Commit all changes waiting in the address cache to the DB.
 	void commit();
 
 	/// Execute the given block on our previous block. This will set up m_currentBlock first, then call the other playback().
@@ -235,6 +238,34 @@ inline std::ostream& operator<<(std::ostream& _out, State const& _s)
 	return _out;
 }
 
+template <class DB>
+void commit(std::map<Address, AddressState> const& _cache, DB& _db, TrieDB<Address, DB>& _state)
+{
+	for (auto const& i: _cache)
+		if (i.second.type() == AddressType::Dead)
+			_state.remove(i.first);
+		else
+		{
+			RLPStream s(i.second.type() == AddressType::Contract ? 3 : 2);
+			s << i.second.balance() << i.second.nonce();
+			if (i.second.type() == AddressType::Contract)
+			{
+				if (i.second.haveMemory())
+				{
+					TrieDB<u256, DB> memdb(&_db);
+					memdb.init();
+					for (auto const& j: i.second.memory())
+						if (j.second)
+							memdb.insert(j.first, rlp(j.second));
+					s << memdb.root();
+				}
+				else
+					s << i.second.oldRoot();
+			}
+			_state.insert(i.first, &s.out());
+		}
+}
+
 }