diff --git a/keyserver/src/creators/account-creator.js b/keyserver/src/creators/account-creator.js
--- a/keyserver/src/creators/account-creator.js
+++ b/keyserver/src/creators/account-creator.js
@@ -138,7 +138,7 @@
     updateThread(
       createScriptViewer(ashoat.id),
       {
-        threadID: genesis.id,
+        threadID: genesis().id,
         changes: { newMemberIDs: [id] },
       },
       { forceAddMembers: true, silenceMessages: true, ignorePermissions: true },
@@ -312,7 +312,7 @@
     updateThread(
       createScriptViewer(ashoat.id),
       {
-        threadID: genesis.id,
+        threadID: genesis().id,
         changes: { newMemberIDs: [viewer.userID] },
       },
       { forceAddMembers: true, silenceMessages: true, ignorePermissions: true },
diff --git a/keyserver/src/creators/thread-creator.js b/keyserver/src/creators/thread-creator.js
--- a/keyserver/src/creators/thread-creator.js
+++ b/keyserver/src/creators/thread-creator.js
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@
   // keyserver, so we set them to the have the Genesis community as their
   // parent thread.
   if (!parentThreadID && !threadTypeIsCommunityRoot(threadType)) {
-    parentThreadID = genesis.id;
+    parentThreadID = genesis().id;
   }
 
   const determineThreadAncestryPromise = determineThreadAncestry(
@@ -464,7 +464,7 @@
   if (
     parentThreadID &&
     threadType !== threadTypes.SIDEBAR &&
-    (parentThreadID !== genesis.id ||
+    (parentThreadID !== genesis().id ||
       threadType === threadTypes.COMMUNITY_OPEN_SUBTHREAD ||
       threadType === threadTypes.COMMUNITY_OPEN_ANNOUNCEMENT_SUBTHREAD)
   ) {
diff --git a/keyserver/src/database/migration-config.js b/keyserver/src/database/migration-config.js
--- a/keyserver/src/database/migration-config.js
+++ b/keyserver/src/database/migration-config.js
@@ -597,15 +597,17 @@
         LEFT JOIN (
           SELECT m.thread, MAX(m.id) AS message FROM messages m
           WHERE m.type != ${messageTypes.CREATE_SUB_THREAD} 
-            AND m.thread = ${genesis.id}
+            AND m.thread = ${genesis().id}
           GROUP BY m.thread 
         ) all_users_query ON mm.thread = all_users_query.thread
         LEFT JOIN (
           SELECT m.thread, stm.user, MAX(m.id) AS message FROM messages m
-          LEFT JOIN memberships stm ON m.type = ${messageTypes.CREATE_SUB_THREAD}
+          LEFT JOIN memberships stm ON m.type = ${
+            messageTypes.CREATE_SUB_THREAD
+          }
             AND stm.thread = m.content
           WHERE JSON_EXTRACT(stm.permissions, ${visibleExtractString}) IS TRUE
-            AND m.thread = ${genesis.id}
+            AND m.thread = ${genesis().id}
           GROUP BY m.thread, stm.user
         ) last_subthread_message_for_user_query 
         ON mm.thread = last_subthread_message_for_user_query.thread 
@@ -613,7 +615,7 @@
         SET
           mm.last_message = GREATEST(COALESCE(all_users_query.message, 0), 
             COALESCE(last_subthread_message_for_user_query.message, 0))
-        WHERE mm.thread = ${genesis.id};
+        WHERE mm.thread = ${genesis().id};
       `;
       await dbQuery(query);
     },
diff --git a/keyserver/src/database/setup-db.js b/keyserver/src/database/setup-db.js
--- a/keyserver/src/database/setup-db.js
+++ b/keyserver/src/database/setup-db.js
@@ -447,7 +447,7 @@
   const insertIDsPromise = dbQuery(SQL`
     INSERT INTO ids (id, table_name)
     VALUES
-      (${genesis.id}, 'threads'),
+      (${genesis().id}, 'threads'),
       (${bots.commbot.staffThreadID}, 'threads')
   `);
 
@@ -455,10 +455,10 @@
   const createGenesisPromise = createThread(
     ashoatViewer,
     {
-      id: genesis.id,
+      id: genesis().id,
       type: threadTypes.GENESIS,
-      name: genesis.name,
-      description: genesis.description,
+      name: genesis().name,
+      description: genesis().description,
       initialMemberIDs: [bots.commbot.userID],
     },
     createThreadOptions,
diff --git a/keyserver/src/fetchers/thread-permission-fetchers.js b/keyserver/src/fetchers/thread-permission-fetchers.js
--- a/keyserver/src/fetchers/thread-permission-fetchers.js
+++ b/keyserver/src/fetchers/thread-permission-fetchers.js
@@ -305,7 +305,7 @@
       ignoreMembers.add(memberID);
       continue;
     }
-    const isParentThreadGenesis = params.parentThreadID === genesis.id;
+    const isParentThreadGenesis = params.parentThreadID === genesis().id;
     if (
       (memberOfContainingThread.get(memberID) === 'no-containing-thread' ||
         isParentThreadGenesis) &&
diff --git a/keyserver/src/updaters/thread-permission-updaters.js b/keyserver/src/updaters/thread-permission-updaters.js
--- a/keyserver/src/updaters/thread-permission-updaters.js
+++ b/keyserver/src/updaters/thread-permission-updaters.js
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@
     FROM threads t
     INNER JOIN memberships pm ON pm.thread = t.parent_thread_id
     WHERE t.id = ${threadID} AND
-      (pm.user IN (${userIDs}) OR t.parent_thread_id != ${genesis.id})
+      (pm.user IN (${userIDs}) OR t.parent_thread_id != ${genesis().id})
   `;
   const containingMembershipQuery = SQL`
     SELECT cm.user, cm.role AS containing_role
@@ -196,13 +196,13 @@
 
   const relationshipChangeset = new RelationshipChangeset();
   const existingMemberIDs = [...existingMembershipInfo.keys()];
-  if (threadID !== genesis.id) {
+  if (threadID !== genesis().id) {
     relationshipChangeset.setAllRelationshipsExist(existingMemberIDs);
   }
   const parentMemberIDs = parentMembershipResults.map(row =>
     row.user.toString(),
   );
-  if (parentThreadID && parentThreadID !== genesis.id) {
+  if (parentThreadID && parentThreadID !== genesis().id) {
     relationshipChangeset.setAllRelationshipsExist(parentMemberIDs);
   }
 
@@ -302,7 +302,7 @@
       });
     }
 
-    if (permissions && !existingMembership && threadID !== genesis.id) {
+    if (permissions && !existingMembership && threadID !== genesis().id) {
       relationshipChangeset.setRelationshipsNeeded(userID, existingMemberIDs);
     }
 
@@ -452,7 +452,7 @@
       const existingMemberIDs = existingMembers
         .filter(([, { curRole }]) => curRole)
         .map(([userID]) => userID);
-      if (threadID !== genesis.id) {
+      if (threadID !== genesis().id) {
         relationshipChangeset.setAllRelationshipsExist(existingMemberIDs);
       }
 
@@ -529,7 +529,7 @@
           });
         }
 
-        if (permissions && !existingMembership && threadID !== genesis.id) {
+        if (permissions && !existingMembership && threadID !== genesis().id) {
           // If there was no membership row before, and we are creating one,
           // we'll need to make sure the new member has a relationship row with
           // each existing member. We expect that whoever called us already
@@ -803,13 +803,13 @@
 
   const relationshipChangeset = new RelationshipChangeset();
   const existingMemberIDs = membershipResults.map(row => row.user.toString());
-  if (threadID !== genesis.id) {
+  if (threadID !== genesis().id) {
     relationshipChangeset.setAllRelationshipsExist(existingMemberIDs);
   }
   const parentMemberIDs = parentMembershipResults.map(row =>
     row.user.toString(),
   );
-  if (parentThreadID && parentThreadID !== genesis.id) {
+  if (parentThreadID && parentThreadID !== genesis().id) {
     relationshipChangeset.setAllRelationshipsExist(parentMemberIDs);
   }
 
@@ -870,7 +870,7 @@
       });
     }
 
-    if (permissions && !existingMembership && threadID !== genesis.id) {
+    if (permissions && !existingMembership && threadID !== genesis().id) {
       // If there was no membership row before, and we are creating one,
       // we'll need to make sure the new member has a relationship row with
       // each existing member. We handle guaranteeing that new members have
@@ -1160,7 +1160,7 @@
     savedUsers.push(userID);
   }
   for (const [threadID, savedUsers] of threadsToSavedUsers) {
-    if (threadID !== genesis.id) {
+    if (threadID !== genesis().id) {
       relationshipChangeset.setAllRelationshipsNeeded(savedUsers);
     }
   }
diff --git a/lib/actions/thread-actions.js b/lib/actions/thread-actions.js
--- a/lib/actions/thread-actions.js
+++ b/lib/actions/thread-actions.js
@@ -208,7 +208,7 @@
     callKeyserverEndpoint: CallKeyserverEndpoint,
   ): ((input: ClientNewThreadRequest) => Promise<NewThreadResult>) =>
   async input => {
-    const parentThreadID = input.parentThreadID ?? genesis.id;
+    const parentThreadID = input.parentThreadID ?? genesis().id;
     const keyserverID = extractKeyserverIDFromID(parentThreadID);
     const requests = { [keyserverID]: input };
 
diff --git a/lib/components/chat-mention-provider.react.js b/lib/components/chat-mention-provider.react.js
--- a/lib/components/chat-mention-provider.react.js
+++ b/lib/components/chat-mention-provider.react.js
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@
 
   const getChatMentionSearchIndex = React.useCallback(
     (threadInfo: ThreadInfo) => {
-      if (threadInfo.community === genesis.id) {
+      if (threadInfo.community === genesis().id) {
         const communityThreadID =
           getCommunityThreadIDForGenesisThreads(threadInfo);
         return searchIndices[communityThreadID];
@@ -170,7 +170,7 @@
           lastThreadInTraversePath.type !== threadTypes.PERSONAL &&
           lastThreadInTraversePath.type !== threadTypes.PRIVATE
         ) {
-          result[genesis.id][lastThreadInTraversePath.id] = {
+          result[genesis().id][lastThreadInTraversePath.id] = {
             threadInfo: lastThreadInTraversePath,
             rawChatName: threadInfos[lastThreadInTraversePath.id].uiName,
           };
diff --git a/lib/facts/genesis.js b/lib/facts/genesis.js
--- a/lib/facts/genesis.js
+++ b/lib/facts/genesis.js
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 // @flow
 
+import { authoritativeKeyserverID } from '../utils/authoritative-keyserver.js';
+
 type Genesis = {
   +id: string,
   +name: string,
@@ -7,8 +9,8 @@
   +introMessages: $ReadOnlyArray<string>,
 };
 
-const genesis: Genesis = {
-  id: process.env['KEYSERVER'] ? '1' : '256|1',
+const genesis: () => Genesis = () => ({
+  id: process.env['KEYSERVER'] ? '1' : `${authoritativeKeyserverID()}|1`,
   name: 'GENESIS',
   description:
     'This is the first community on Comm. In the future it will be possible to create chats outside of a community, but for now all of these chats get set with GENESIS as their parent. GENESIS is hosted on Ashoat’s keyserver.',
@@ -18,6 +20,6 @@
     'this is meant to be temporary. we’re working on support for chats that can exist outside of any community, as well as support for user-hosted communities',
     'to learn more about our roadmap and how Genesis fits in, check out [this document](https://www.notion.so/Comm-Genesis-1059f131fb354250abd1966894b15951)',
   ],
-};
+});
 
 export default genesis;
diff --git a/lib/hooks/chat-mention-hooks.js b/lib/hooks/chat-mention-hooks.js
--- a/lib/hooks/chat-mention-hooks.js
+++ b/lib/hooks/chat-mention-hooks.js
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
 
   return React.useMemo(() => {
     const communityID =
-      threadInfo.community === genesis.id
+      threadInfo.community === genesis().id
         ? communityThreadIDForGenesisThreads
         : threadInfo.community ?? threadInfo.id;
 
diff --git a/lib/selectors/thread-selectors.js b/lib/selectors/thread-selectors.js
--- a/lib/selectors/thread-selectors.js
+++ b/lib/selectors/thread-selectors.js
@@ -453,7 +453,7 @@
       const rawThreadInfo = rawThreadInfos[threadID];
       if (
         threadIsPending(threadID) ||
-        (rawThreadInfo.parentThreadID !== genesis.id &&
+        (rawThreadInfo.parentThreadID !== genesis().id &&
           rawThreadInfo.type !== threadTypes.SIDEBAR)
       ) {
         continue;
diff --git a/lib/shared/ancestor-threads.js b/lib/shared/ancestor-threads.js
--- a/lib/shared/ancestor-threads.js
+++ b/lib/shared/ancestor-threads.js
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
   const ancestorThreads = useSelector(ancestorThreadInfos(threadInfo.id));
 
   const genesisThreadInfo = useSelector(
-    state => threadInfoSelector(state)[genesis.id],
+    state => threadInfoSelector(state)[genesis().id],
   );
 
   return React.useMemo(() => {
diff --git a/lib/shared/avatar-utils.js b/lib/shared/avatar-utils.js
--- a/lib/shared/avatar-utils.js
+++ b/lib/shared/avatar-utils.js
@@ -306,7 +306,7 @@
     return thread.avatar;
   }
 
-  if (containingThreadInfo && containingThreadInfo.id !== genesis.id) {
+  if (containingThreadInfo && containingThreadInfo.id !== genesis().id) {
     return containingThreadInfo.avatar
       ? containingThreadInfo.avatar
       : getDefaultAvatar(containingThreadInfo.id, containingThreadInfo.color);
diff --git a/lib/shared/search-utils.js b/lib/shared/search-utils.js
--- a/lib/shared/search-utils.js
+++ b/lib/shared/search-utils.js
@@ -107,14 +107,14 @@
 
   const communityThreadInfo = React.useMemo(
     () =>
-      inputCommunityThreadInfo && inputCommunityThreadInfo.id !== genesis.id
+      inputCommunityThreadInfo && inputCommunityThreadInfo.id !== genesis().id
         ? inputCommunityThreadInfo
         : null,
     [inputCommunityThreadInfo],
   );
   const parentThreadInfo = React.useMemo(
     () =>
-      inputParentThreadInfo && inputParentThreadInfo.id !== genesis.id
+      inputParentThreadInfo && inputParentThreadInfo.id !== genesis().id
         ? inputParentThreadInfo
         : null,
     [inputParentThreadInfo],
diff --git a/lib/shared/thread-utils.js b/lib/shared/thread-utils.js
--- a/lib/shared/thread-utils.js
+++ b/lib/shared/thread-utils.js
@@ -215,7 +215,7 @@
   if (!threadInfo) {
     return false;
   }
-  if (threadInfo.id === genesis.id) {
+  if (threadInfo.id === genesis().id) {
     return true;
   }
   return threadInfo.members.some(member => member.id === userID && member.role);
@@ -240,7 +240,7 @@
 function threadMembersWithoutAddedAshoat<
   T: LegacyRawThreadInfo | RawThreadInfo | ThreadInfo,
 >(threadInfo: T): $PropertyType<T, 'members'> {
-  if (threadInfo.community !== genesis.id) {
+  if (threadInfo.community !== genesis().id) {
     return threadInfo.members;
   }
   return threadInfo.members.filter(
@@ -801,7 +801,7 @@
   let currentUser;
   for (const serverMember of serverThreadInfo.members) {
     if (
-      serverThreadInfo.id === genesis.id &&
+      serverThreadInfo.id === genesis().id &&
       serverMember.id !== viewerID &&
       serverMember.id !== ashoat.id
     ) {
@@ -1168,7 +1168,7 @@
     return 'thread';
   } else if (
     threadType === threadTypes.COMMUNITY_SECRET_SUBTHREAD &&
-    parentThreadID === genesis.id
+    parentThreadID === genesis().id
   ) {
     return 'chat';
   } else if (
diff --git a/native/chat/message-list-container.react.js b/native/chat/message-list-container.react.js
--- a/native/chat/message-list-container.react.js
+++ b/native/chat/message-list-container.react.js
@@ -359,7 +359,7 @@
     const measureMessages = useHeightMeasurer();
 
     const genesisThreadInfo = useSelector(
-      state => threadInfoSelector(state)[genesis.id],
+      state => threadInfoSelector(state)[genesis().id],
     );
 
     const bannerText =
diff --git a/web/chat/chat-thread-list.react.js b/web/chat/chat-thread-list.react.js
--- a/web/chat/chat-thread-list.react.js
+++ b/web/chat/chat-thread-list.react.js
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@
     );
   }, [popModal, pushModal, communityThreadInfo]);
 
-  const isChatCreation = !communityID || communityID === genesis.id;
+  const isChatCreation = !communityID || communityID === genesis().id;
 
   const onClickCreate = isChatCreation
     ? onClickNewThread