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Topic: Does myanmar illustrate bitcoin's next evolution - page 2. (Read 245 times)

sr. member
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Here in India, satellite phones are banned. If you own one, you can be charged with waging war against the state and thrown in jail for a very long period. I don't think that the situation is any different in Myanmar (which is ruled by a military junta). OP seems to be having very little knowledge about authoritarian nations and how things work in such countries. If they could impose an internet blackout, don't you think that they have the capability to trace and seize all the satellite phones?
Pretty understandable considering that your country is having tensions with Pakistan which hopefully gets resolved because tension is slowing the progress of both countries, satellite phones are a scary ones because they are not easily detected if I am right and you have to be on the specific frequency before you can intercept the message. I think so too, if the government does an Internet blackout then what is the point of having cryptocurrency if you can't access it because there is no Internet, I mean even with satellites, if the government wants to lock the Internet from its people then they will do it.
legendary
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Here in India, satellite phones are banned. If you own one, you can be charged with waging war against the state and thrown in jail for a very long period. I don't think that the situation is any different in Myanmar (which is ruled by a military junta). OP seems to be having very little knowledge about authoritarian nations and how things work in such countries. If they could impose an internet blackout, don't you think that they have the capability to trace and seize all the satellite phones?
legendary
Activity: 2576
Merit: 1860
This is more of a technological challenge. Future innovations in communication and technology would most likely address worst forms of outages caused by large-scale disasters both man-made and natural.

As for Bitcoin, it is not really a frontliner in terms of technological innovation. It makes use of existing technologies more than it creates one. It exploits the existence of electricity, internet, smart phones, PCs, and so on. However, I don't think Bitcoin itself can defy a crazy junta which could do all forms of evil for the sake of control.
legendary
Activity: 2562
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AFAIK the same satellite phones still use service providers to be able to make calls or connect to the internet. So In case the government decided to shut the internet service. They would of course command the service providers to switch off their services and there will be no internet connection. That's what's happening in Myanmar. The only way it would be possible is If the government had no control over private owners of the satellites and the network through Laws just like they have no control over the Bitcoin network.


Have you ever wondered why the united states didn't ban russian spy satellites from snapping photographs above US airspace during the cold war? A few years back it was claimed that military satellites in orbit could detonate an EMP device to take down the US electrical grid. Zero public attempt made by US bureaucracy to interdict, prevent or address that topic.

There's a chance satellites are located above the official territory & domain of nations like the USA. There might be a legal loophole that prevents countries from regulating activities in orbit. Which could mean they would lack the jurisdiction to order shutdowns to communications satellites, if they were utilized to execute blockchain transactions.

Although I can't be 100% certain on the legal status of any of this.

Corporations are multi-nationals. If a satellite internet business resisted shutdown orders in the US. They could threaten to move to russia or another country. Microsoft threatened to move operations to canada when they were threatened with anti trust lawsuits. This was years back when Bill Gates was still acting CEO.

This could easily be more complicated than it seems on the surface.
legendary
Activity: 3024
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What if the government develops some technology to jam satellite signals? It's a game of cat and mouse, privacy and freedom activists will be using technology to achieve those goals, government will be using technology to counter it. China shows that Internet can be controlled, and society as a whole too. So, I don't think that Bitcoin is a silver bullet that will solve this problem once and for all.
copper member
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AFAIK the same satellite phones still use service providers to be able to make calls or connect to the internet. So In case the government decided to shut the internet service. They would of course command the service providers to switch off their services and there will be no internet connection. That's what's happening in Myanmar. The only way it would be possible is If the government had no control over private owners of the satellites and the network through Laws just like they have no control over the Bitcoin network.
legendary
Activity: 2562
Merit: 1441
A coup was staged in myanmar on feb 1st 2021.

ATM's were shut down. Rolling internet blackouts have been imposed by the state, wiith VPN's and access to social media blocked. Everything about it sounds horrible. But perhaps there are lessons which can be learned from this to prevent future suffering.

Consider if you will a future where bitcoin is widely supported across satellite internet services like Elon Musk's starlink. With users having uninterrupted access 24/7 via satellite internet based PCs and smartphones. Natural disasters could knock out local power grids, local internet service could shut down. And HODLers would still have access to their coins and electronic payment through the use of satellites in orbit and sat net phones.

While this scenario may not sound cost effective or "too futuristic" to some. There are satellite capable phones on the market for $500:

https://www.amazon.com/BlueCosmo-Inmarsat-IsatPhone-Satellite-Included/dp/B01AKR983M/

What would it take for satellite based bitcoin BTC nodes to exist.

And what would it take for users to have satellite capable communications to support a hardened orbital blockchain capable of weathering natural disasters and local power outtages?
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