diff --git a/scripts/gen_localnet.py b/scripts/gen_localnet.py
index ddfbad4bb9..ce323ecca1 100644
--- a/scripts/gen_localnet.py
+++ b/scripts/gen_localnet.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import argparse
+import datetime
 import sys
 import os
 import subprocess
@@ -120,7 +121,7 @@ def edit_parameters(params_toml, **kwargs):
 # Run namadac utils init_network with the correct arguments
 print('Running namadac utils init_network')
 CHAIN_PREFIX='local'
-GENESIS_TIME='2021-12-31T00:00:00Z'
+GENESIS_TIME = datetime.datetime.now(datetime.timezone.utc).isoformat()
 TEMPLATES_PATH=localnet_dir
 WASM_CHECKSUMS_PATH=namada_dir + '/wasm/checksums.json'
 WASM_PATH=namada_dir + '/wasm/'