For the first part of the series, please click here.
As proud supporters of the circular economy, we realised recently that while we can help with the purchasing of prepping supplies such as self defence tools, solar panels, canned meals and more… what happens if a major event were ever to occur and we lose all mains electricity and internet connectivity? Will our Bitcoin be useless or not?
The Why
Whilst many of us may scoff at the suggestion of an apocalypse or of all mains electricity and internet connectivity being lost during a major event, we may also find it inconceivable that our own government would one day remove our access to our money. Yet if you look back through history you can see that the people of Greece, Brazil, Venezuela, Cyprus, Zimbabwe and other countries have all been victims to this exact scenario. They awoke to their governments having shut their access to their bank and in some cases funds were actually removed from their personal accounts by those in charge.
If you consider the above, then it doesn’t seem quite as far-fetched that one day we could awake to find our electricity supply cut off and yes, some have planned for this type of event; but the majority have not.
One thing many of us and our customers do hold however is Bitcoin. So how well would we fare in a post-apocalyptic world or just one where our access to mains electricity is entirely removed?
It turns out after some research that holding Bitcoin without any form of electricity or internet connection isn’t as useless as some initially thought, and while the methods outlined below aren’t ideal and required some preparation; it is possible to use the Bitcoin network to make transactions without mains electricity or an internet connection.
The How
Back in 2018, crypto personality and twitter user CoinsureNZ managed to send a Bitcoin transaction 12.6 kilometers without the use of any mains electricity or internet connectivity.
Even more impressively, he managed to do this without the use of very expensive equipment; utilising a entry level $26 Android smartphone and 4 ‘Gotennas’ amongst some other items like cloth and clothes pegs. For those who aren’t aware, a Gotenna is an item which allows adventurers to stay in contact with each other in areas with no mobile reception or signal.
The way this feat was pulled off was by the android mobile using Samurai Wallet sending a signed bitcoin transaction as a Gotenna message. The transaction was sent to his girlfriends’ mobile phone which had both a mobile phone reception and Gotenna reception. Her mobile phone then relayed the transaction over the internet and once the Bitcoin Network accepted the transaction, her wallet was credited with the Bitcoin sent to her.
A quick recommendation for anyone looking to try the above would be to pick up a mobile phone solar charger, which you can get from Cabela’s or a multitude of online retailers; as this will help you keep that phone alive for the experiment or in the event you are out of electricity and internet in your local area.
Now we know what you’re thinking… this is useful for natural disasters or situations where certain areas are shut off from the internet or mains electricity, but what about an all-out apocalypse situation?
In 2019, Rodolfo Novak was the first person to send a Bitcoin transaction via radio waves to the very first recipient, Samuel Patterson and this was done without any internet connection at all. Even though his was a big breakthrough, it requires knowledge of Ham Radio usage (possibly a permit depending on when you are located) and there are security holes too; so we wouldn’t recommend trying this yourself right now.
The way Novak did this was to transfer his Seed phrases for his Bitcoin wallet to a brain wallet and create a transaction ahead of time. This was then broadcasted via radio waves for anyone who wished to intercept and accept the transaction to do so. The transaction actually travelled 600 kilometers from Canada to the USA showing that with a lot of knowhow, some planning and the right equipment the Bitcoin Network can be utilised to send a transaction without any internet connection or mobile phone reception at all.
Not sure about trying out the above, but want to prepare for any natural disasters or emergencies?
You can try making your own Satellite Bitcoin Node using a Raspberry Pi and some Satellite equipment to prepare for the worst and help try keeping the Bitcoin network live during some kind of natural disaster. Check out this link to get step by step instructions.
Or if you would like to take an extra step and support the Bitcoin Lightning Network in your area, you can run a Lightning Node and make some extra cash from it right now using Solar Power with this kit created by Chimezie Chuta or by creating your own from scratch. Not only will you contribute to the network and stack extra sats without spending lots on your electricity bill, but in the event the mains supply is shut off, you will be keeping the network alive.
Bitrefill accepts Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies and we don’t require an account or any personal information in order for you to purchase gift cards to multiple retailers such as Cabela’s, Walmart, Home Depot, Lowes and many more. This means you can make purchases for the equipment you want, outside of the financial surveillance tools. So no one else knows your exact preparations for an emergency situation.
Start living on Bitcoin today
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