What types do “now” and “block.timestamp” return?

Question

Is it a uint256 in the form of a standard UNIX timestamp?

Thanks

Answer 1

Correct, the keyword now which is an alias for block.timestamp returns uint which is an alias for uint256 and represents the seconds since the epoch just like the normal UNIX timestamp. Keep in mind that this time gets set by the miner who mined that block and therefore you should not rely on this number too strongly as the miner could game this number a little bit (make it later than it actually is).