Well that sounds clever to me.
"Things are the way I believe they are and no surprises will ever happen", right?
- Jyri
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Altcoin.Center
if intercontinental Internet connections were lost
That's a big if. Besides, all it would take is a few radio or satellite links to patch the blockchain when cables were cut. The blockchain and its watchdogs would still recognize the work.
This could result in a larger percentage of orphaned blocks as there tends to be more latency when dealing with satellites then fiber optic transmission lines. This however would not affect the network hashrate (some miners may decide to stop mining because of the lower EV of the result of the higher percentage of orphaned blocks, but not enough to make a major difference)
Yes.
If (hehe;) there would be such backup links available at all (i.e. satellites would be working),
if the traffic could be rerouted over those satellite links (despite the limitations in the bandwidth satellites can provide), and so forth.
The block chain system itself is rather tolerant and adaptive, but only as long as the underlying network has at least decent amount of functionality. Should something as disruptive as a massive CME or, say, an underwater volcanic eruption happen that would disconnect whole continents from each other for prolonged periods of time, then it's virtually unavoidable that forking would occur.
There certainly are lots of ifs in this game. However, ignoring them and assuming things will just stroll along nicely is not what would be considered "wise" by anyone who has any understanding of risk assessment. It's a known fact (not a possibility) that scenarios like Carrington's event will play out eventually. What we do not yet know is how the modern infrastructure will be able to cope with that. Informed individuals and specialists have a clear consensus that it is most likely that there will be big disruptions in both delivery of electricity and functionality of the communications networks. Satellites are particularly vulnerable to anything that creates chaos such as high ionization in the atmosphere.
- Jyri
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Altcoin.Center