July 25, 2019
by Sharon Moran
A Wired article published last month titled, The Cypherpunks Tapping Bitcoin Via Ham Radio highlights the need for contingencies to maintain the bitcoin blockchain.
The article featured the efforts of Brian Goss who lives outside Kingman, Arizona. He updates his blockchain using satellite. This type of redundancy provides an extra layer of decentralization since satellites are outside the scope of what computers require to maintain the blockchain: local internet service providers.
What about an additional contingency that doesn’t require internet OR satellite, particularly since you can only receive and not send data via satellite without an internet connection? Ham radio! Earlier this year, this type of transaction took place between Toronto and Michigan. Read the Bitcoinist.com article on the transaction, Bitcoin Successfully Sent Cross-Border Without Internet Or Satellite.
Next time your internet is out and you want to send a friend some bitcoin, at least you know you’ll have other options.
