6 ms·

What good is Bitcoin if the Internet fails?

15 points by HipGeeks 7y ago

mtnGoat 7y ago
this is a very interesting and good question. for people that love decentralization... they sure are dependent on a centralized internet infrastructure.
- mamon 7y ago
  Not to mention that majority of hashing power is owned by just few miners, most of them in China.
jrace 7y ago
What happens to traditional banking in if the internet fails?
- rafiki6 7y ago
  you go get your cash from the teller at the bank
  - cuddlybacon 7y ago
    * Can the teller process customer requests without the internet? Last time I had something done at my bank, it was clear they were just using the same online banking site customers have access to. * What about the (slow) shift to banks that don't have physical locations in every community.
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
  - jrace 7y ago
    But do the banks have access to your account information without the internet? ==> Genuine question, just how much do the banks rely on the internet to store and retrieve your account information?
tutfbhuf 7y ago
no good
Asterate 7y ago
This comment is not my original content. This comment is from Reddit and I loved it so much that I thought it would be nice to share it. I read a rumor that they are launching SATELLITES that will run BTC.. https://www.coindesk.com/gotenna-partners-with-blockstream-satellite-to-make-using-bitcoin-without-an-internet-connection-simpler* https://www.coindesk.com/gotenna-partners-with-blockstream-s... I read that BTC was successfully sent over RADIO WAVES...* https://www.wired.com/story/cypherpunks-bitcoin-ham-radio/* https://www.wired.com/story/cypherpunks-bitcoin-ham-radio/* I read you can do BTC hashes with PEN AND PAPER...* http://www.righto.com/2014/09/mining-bitcoin-with-pencil-and-paper.html* http://www.righto.com/2014/09/mining-bitcoin-with-pencil-and... credits to u/gld6000
closetohome 7y ago
In some countries I could see this being an issue, as the Internet can be shut down entirely for any number of political reasons. In the US, if the Internet is out everywhere for an extended period of time, Bitcoin will be the least of anyone's worries.
aSplash0fDerp 7y ago
Data will always be the most valuable asset, with or without the Internet (TCP/IP makes it easy to move, but is not required). Once the 2-way links are available, running your own node without meshing would likely be a requirement for retail shops, miners and investors that will help grow the footprint. If they could code liquidity modes into wallets (ie. Spendable vs not spendable modes), they could possibly limit the losses during disruptions by having wallets that are in a non-spendable state stay safe from manipulation, while only the crypto in spendable state wallets that are in circulation being vulnerable to loss or fraud during catastrophic events. I think something like that was proposed with one of the alt-coins a few years back.
kim0 7y ago
You can now sync the blockchain via satellite, and send transactions via SMS gateways
- anthony_barker 7y ago
  there is active project to use modified sailboat radios and old cold war transponders. I believe it is active in China and north korea to go around the great firewall.
Shorel 7y ago
This is one of the infrequent cases in Hacker News where the article is far better than the comments (so far).
- closetohome 7y ago
  It really isn't that insightful an article. They have one source - a PR flak for a crypto company - and his solutions all boil down to "rebuild some form of Internet." An Iridium phone connected to a mesh network is just inconvenient Internet access.
  - Shorel 7y ago
    Launching satellites is far from trivial. May be I am a sucker for all things space related, but that made the article interesting.

15 points by HipGeeks 7y ago

this is a very interesting and good question. for people that love decentralization... they sure are dependent on a centralized internet infrastructure.

mamon 7y ago
Not to mention that majority of hashing power is owned by just few miners, most of them in China.

jrace 7y ago

What happens to traditional banking in if the internet fails?

rafiki6 7y ago
you go get your cash from the teller at the bank
- cuddlybacon 7y ago
  * Can the teller process customer requests without the internet? Last time I had something done at my bank, it was clear they were just using the same online banking site customers have access to. * What about the (slow) shift to banks that don't have physical locations in every community.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
- jrace 7y ago
  But do the banks have access to your account information without the internet? ==> Genuine question, just how much do the banks rely on the internet to store and retrieve your account information?

tutfbhuf 7y ago

no good

Asterate 7y ago

This comment is not my original content. This comment is from Reddit and I loved it so much that I thought it would be nice to share it. I read a rumor that they are launching SATELLITES that will run BTC.. https://www.coindesk.com/gotenna-partners-with-blockstream-satellite-to-make-using-bitcoin-without-an-internet-connection-simpler* https://www.coindesk.com/gotenna-partners-with-blockstream-s... I read that BTC was successfully sent over RADIO WAVES...* https://www.wired.com/story/cypherpunks-bitcoin-ham-radio/* https://www.wired.com/story/cypherpunks-bitcoin-ham-radio/* I read you can do BTC hashes with PEN AND PAPER...* http://www.righto.com/2014/09/mining-bitcoin-with-pencil-and-paper.html* http://www.righto.com/2014/09/mining-bitcoin-with-pencil-and... credits to u/gld6000

closetohome 7y ago

In some countries I could see this being an issue, as the Internet can be shut down entirely for any number of political reasons. In the US, if the Internet is out everywhere for an extended period of time, Bitcoin will be the least of anyone's worries.

aSplash0fDerp 7y ago

Data will always be the most valuable asset, with or without the Internet (TCP/IP makes it easy to move, but is not required). Once the 2-way links are available, running your own node without meshing would likely be a requirement for retail shops, miners and investors that will help grow the footprint. If they could code liquidity modes into wallets (ie. Spendable vs not spendable modes), they could possibly limit the losses during disruptions by having wallets that are in a non-spendable state stay safe from manipulation, while only the crypto in spendable state wallets that are in circulation being vulnerable to loss or fraud during catastrophic events. I think something like that was proposed with one of the alt-coins a few years back.

kim0 7y ago

You can now sync the blockchain via satellite, and send transactions via SMS gateways

anthony_barker 7y ago
there is active project to use modified sailboat radios and old cold war transponders. I believe it is active in China and north korea to go around the great firewall.

Shorel 7y ago

This is one of the infrequent cases in Hacker News where the article is far better than the comments (so far).

closetohome 7y ago
It really isn't that insightful an article. They have one source - a PR flak for a crypto company - and his solutions all boil down to "rebuild some form of Internet." An Iridium phone connected to a mesh network is just inconvenient Internet access.
- Shorel 7y ago
  Launching satellites is far from trivial. May be I am a sucker for all things space related, but that made the article interesting.