Crypto Thoughts — Bitcoin without internet

It is a very interesting proposition if Bitcoin can work without internet. We have now Blockstream sending satellite to space and trying to connect any part of the world where lightning network may make Bitcoin transactions possible in far reaches of the world. But fundamental question to all the Bitcoin Maximalists and Crypto Anarchists is that, will really Bitcoin work without internet. And the answer is “may be — may be not”.

Background

I am at a cafe, forgot my phone and have no way to connect to internet. Thankfully I had my credit card, so I paid for the coffee and I am writing this blog now. Now next question to ask is, ok what if the cafe doesn't have internet. Still, today I can pay fiat currency and my transaction will be done.

Now lets come to digital currencies, when I mean digital currencies I do not only mean cryptocurrencies but all form of currencies where digital transaction is done. One of the key aspect in any digital transaction is that one of the parties in the transaction has to be connected to the internet to verify the transaction. In traditional transactions using fiat one only need fiat and pay the amount in a peer-to peer way for the transaction to be done. Even in some of the off-line credit card transactions now up to a limit (with risks) a transaction is done and later once the system is able to connect to internet the transaction is confirmed. A similar mode of transaction is also done in far flung places of Australia where the post offices do more work than just providing letters. They also act as key point of economic transaction and even sell bitcoins (from what I last heard). So how these post offices in remote areas of Australia were able to connect to Internet few years back. Turns out at least from what I last heard, they connected to the internet once a day to upload and process the transactions. Though now much has changed for good.

So at the end of the day just some kind of connectivity to internet is required to make any kind of digital transaction. Either daily or in quicker frequency.

So how we can literally take Bitcoin to the moon

Peer to peer transaction for trade and commerce has been an unwritten fundamental right of humans that they always want to exercise, governments like it or not. Down the ages be it behind iron curtain or the great wall or even in the dark ages the undeniable effort of humanity has been to survive and as a collective, use peer to peer transaction either through barter or some form of currency to survive and prosper. And Bitcoin and the crypto currency movement is also the outcome of this endeavor.

And though today more and more people are coming and investing in Bitcoin out of wish to be part of its growing value. There is a growing bitcoin and crypto currency community who have been working hard to make this day possible. They want to sustain the way in which Bitcoin can not only survive but also thrive. And that is somehow is becoming true with its value reaching all time high and it becoming digital gold. Bitcoin needs miners, nodes and internet to verify a transaction. There have been sustained effort to find ways in which how bitcoin can survive the extreme times and may even survive the dooms day. One of the efforts in 2014 was done to transfer bitcoin transactions via radio waves in Finland. Now with the talks of hosting bitcoin transactions via satellites, Radio transmission may be looked as a possible solution and it may be just that one day we will see our first bitcoin lightning transaction via satellite and radio network in far flung Sahara desert.

Another solution can be the talk of child and side chains where all the transactions are done for a set of use cases or in a remote village or remote location and once a day or once in a given time is committed to the Bitcoin main chain. Ardor’s child chain concept is one possible learning which can be considered. With segwit such solutions are looking to be more real now in Bitcoin now.

Another solution which with the advent of IOT, lighter Blockchain & Tangled protocol can be thought is to look at using mesh network where wallets on mobile phones or even in a set of low powered devices hop through a network circuit of connected devices till it reaches a device that can be connected to the internet (e.g using ). That is how I guess firechat app became so much popular during the Arab spring and Iraq war.

Another way can which is absolutely offline mode can be to use the paper wallet concept and embed into fiat currencies and do peer to peer transaction in some form where finally the holder when he wants to re-claim his Bitcoin can use the concept of HD wallet(BIP32 compliant) to get his Bitcoin. Again this is a fuzzy idea but with an ingenious mind I am sure this should also be possible.What I am saying is possibly an offline model of “Homomorphic Payment Addresses and the Pay-to-Contract Protocol” and using it as a promissory note to make off chain transactions while Bitcoin becomes the store of value.

Finally

While it may be impossible to make Bitcoin dooms day resilient, but we should realize that Bitcoin & crypto currency is still in its infancy. And there is a huge community which has helped Bitcoin survive even when governments and malicious individuals have tried to de-legitimize it. Now its thriving and hence its time to really look how we make Bitcoin and Cryptos the de-facto currency of the universe.