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Comment by csomar | Hacker News Reader

> A digital currency that requires a sophisticated global computer network to function.

That's stretching it a bit. While Bitcoin looks sophisticated to the average Joe, it is actually a very simple protocol and require very little bandwidth. It's possible to run mining operations from all over the world on very limited connection (in fact you might need to connect only a few times per day). Processing transactions also consume very little bandwidth.

The crypto-folks have come up with something for you: https://blockstream.com/satellite/

So now even if your local infrastructure burned, you can still transact in bitcoin. Granted, there should be some guys somewhere doing the mining to ensure that the network is secure enough.

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They're not saying that bitcoin is sophisticated (it's not), but the entire backbone of the internet is.

In some post-apocalyptic dystopia, people aren't going to be using their phones and laptops to make payments with bitcoin, they're going to use whatever is backed by the local authority.

Venezuela/Brazil/North-Africa disagrees with this.

Over half the transactions in Venezuela are in US Dollar cash now, not Bolivar or Bitcoin. That's not an example of a dystopia switching to Bitcoin.

Mesh networks over HAM radio, to tie it back to the article. ;-)

Ham radio fixes Bitcoin

That requires electricity, which is spotty in a dystopia. Best to stick to encrypted smoke signals.

Do you think those satellites stay in their proper orbit without any intervention? Do you suppose they will not need to be replace? Starlinks, for instance, will have a life span of 5 years. Further, do you suppose people will expend precious energy powering mining rigs rather than cooking food and lighting their mud huts?

I am struggling to imagine a bitcoin mining operation going anywhere without connecting at least once per minute, lest its tiny share of global hashpower is entirely wasted on futile progress on outdated side chains.

You can passively listen to new blocks via satellite or ham radio. You only ever need to connect actively to broadcast your own blocks.

Without global connectivity providing the opportunity to cross-check a sampling of independent nodes' ideas of the latest blocks, this sounds like a loser's game. Either you need a million independent satellites and HAM stations in range, or you are just begging to be spoon-fed malicious and/or outdated blockchain data. No way any mining operation can be competitive in such an environment.

Bartering would be far simpler, given the certainty that if the US financial system collapses, the impact on the effective price of bitcoin would make it unusable for practical matters.

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