Topic: Power Blackouts - Does Bitcoin keep on ticking? - page 2. (Read 3876 times)

You will need a blockchain, though. Or someone you trust, who has a copy, and whom you can communicate with, and who has connections to other peers.

The Electromagnetic pulse danger is negligible, since there are plenty of people who could revive the system with a NAND flash device. Geeks are smart enough to think ahead and put the NAND flash into a grounded area away from the pulse.

I know I will.    The whole bitcoin folder is around 30 MB ( before compression even ) in size at the moment, and easy to put on the cheapest thumbdrive.

Plus VHS really sucks as a storage medium.  Many of my old tapes (high quality Japanese media) really did not last, with tape stretching, magnetic loss and general degradation they are almost not watchable.  I can pull out a 20 year old CD and they work fine. 

Ummmm ElectroMAGNETICPulse

Technically, you're right since Bitcoin (capitalized 'B') refers to the open-source project or the payment network it enables. Whereas bitcoins (lowercase 'b') refer to the currency of the network.

So I'll rephrase my sentence:

And if it happens then bitcoins certainly do keep trading, the same as any other physical cash.

To me that's cash (or gold, or barter), not Bitcoin.

It does if we can begin moving bitcoins offline.

I'm really thinking we may see physical bitcoins in the style of Casacius physical bitcoins where a private key with a value is hidden in a coin in a tamper evident way. All we need is a company to undertake the project seriously.

How many of you would accept a Casacius physical bitcoin as having value if someone tossed you one and you saw the hologram was immaculate. Exactly. We might not accept an extremely high value, but for smaller values we would be fairly confident in it because we believe the project was carried out by a trusted party in a trustworthy way.

The only level of doubt would be the level to which we think the hidden value might be compromised. Casascius coins are a proof-of-concept, which can leave holes of doubt... small ones, but doubts no less. There only needs to be a company that can mass produce coins in such way as to remove most any other doubt.

I think that's possible. And if it happens then Bitcoin certainly does keep ticking, the same as any other physical cash.

Bitcoin does no better.  Even bitcard does not better.  At some point you need to connect to the wider internet.  If your bitcoin merchant terminal can do that then so can your CC merchant terminal.  If it can't then unless you plan on accepting unconfirmed transactions which may be double spends you are just as dead in the water.

I believe this is the key to your answer and to the future stability of our web.

Many cc terminals talk to their networks via gprs (or a descendant), and run on batteries. Just like cell phones. I don't see any big advantage of Bitcoin in the realm of resilience. If/when mobile  mesh solutions emerge, it'll be a different story.

That's why I'm waiting so badly for the bitcoincard. Or a likewise device.

We need this. Or I'm turning a bear   

You can always keep a copy of the blockchain on a VHS tape. They can store up to ~4.5GB (usually around 3.5GB).

If that whole Bitcoincard meshnet thing works out, then local blackouts be damned.  Of course, an electronics destroying solar flare could pose a problem.

Following a storm in late-June extended power blackouts hit the east coast.  Then this week were the enormous back-to-back power blackouts in India affecting over half a billion people,  Last year there was a notable blackout in southern California.

In a power blackout scenario, isn't bitcoin about the only payment method other than cash-in-your pocket that still remains functional?   Most mobile towers have battery backup for a period of time, many with generators as well, I presume.  

So even if cablemodem, dsl, and telephone lines have battery backup and are still online, most people don't have battery backup at home and couldn't use the internet from a plugged in computer or after the notepad/tablet batteries run low.

Most ATMs would still be without power, and most retailers would close or even they stayed open on emergency lighting they might not have sufficient battery backup to keep their point-of-sale systems on.

Some people might have a smartphone that is still online, but at the store they are used to swiping their card, so even though a mobile app might be available for P2P payments, at the retailer they are unable to be served.  That mobile data connection doesn't give them much with present-day payment systems in a blackout.

Two people with a bitcoin app on mobile are already prepared for this blackout scenario though.

The bitcoiners who are prepared could end up being among the few people with the ability to make electronic payments in such a scenario.

When merchants who can no longer accept credit or debit cards then absorb all the circulating cash and with no ATMs operating, then an individual with a fat bitcoin wallet could act as a local exchange to the merchant -- converting some of that cash for bitcoins so that it can circulate. The individual then is able to use cash to purchase supplies and other needs with that scarce fiat.

Decentralized P2P likely does disasters better than centralized systems, such as our electronic payment and banking networks.

Am I painting bitcoin to favorably here, or is a bitcoin mobile wallet (and a solar charger for your mobile) just one more thing to add to the emergency planning checklist?