TD₿: Completely Offline Bitcoin Transactions by grubles
TL;DR Areas without access to fast broadband connections can trustlessly verify Bitcoin blocks and transactions, and receive BTC discreetly with the right hardware.
Hey Bitcoiners,
Sometimes, when I look up to the sky, I think about the Blockstream satellites up there, floating around in space, carrying a full history of the Bitcoin ledger.
Since 2017, this satellite network has enabled billions of people around the world that live in places without internet access, or where bandwidth prices are too expensive, to participate in the Bitcoin network.
In contrast to the Internet, which is expensive or unreliable in some parts of the world and inaccessible in others, Blockstream’s satellites provide near-blanket coverage of the entire planet.
In addition, these satellites add an additional layer of security to the Bitcoin network. In the case of an event where the entire Internet went down, the Bitcoin ledger would survive, and people would still have the ability to sync a Bitcoin full node all the way from the Genesis Block up to today.
These satellites help improve Bitcoin’s decentralization and security by reducing the network’s reliance on Internet access.
Former Blockstream CSO Samson Mow explains this idea in an old interview, “For anyone relying on Bitcoin for buying or selling goods and services, it would be a major problem if they were completely cut off from the network due to say an undersea internet cable being severed. It would cause a network partition where nodes would go out of sync - so users there could potentially accept a transaction that’s later invalidated. With Blockstream Satellite, as long as someone in a country is receiving, it would keep themselves and others in that region in sync with the rest of the Bitcoin network.”
What this means is that individuals can now interact with Bitcoin completely offline if they use the right hardware. This is an incredible development for anyone who lives in more remote areas or who prioritizes their privacy and independence.
Grubles wrote this step-by-step guide on how to build a setup using the Blockstream satellite network and mesh network devices that allows an individual to send offline Bitcoin transactions. (02/07/2019)
The cool part is that this setup does not just apply to Bitcoin transactions, it can also be used in a variety of other ways too.👇
This is a definitive win for anyone that appreciates their freedom and individual sovereignty, and it just further adds to the robustness and functionality of the Bitcoin network.
Bitcoin nodes in space make me feel like I’m living in a Sci-Fi movie. 🛰️
Tick tock next block,
Cory Klippsten
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