Bitcoin
Even if this weekend’s solar storm destroyed civilization, Bitcoin would survive
The sun can produce massive explosions of particles and radiation that can have a significant impact on Earth. Scientists have been studying these explosions for 150 years, focusing on what is considered the largest such event of all time: the Carrington Event of 1859, named after British astronomer Richard Carrington.
The sun erupted and pumped enough energy into our planet’s magnetic field to trigger a massive geomagnetic storm and auroral display. Telegraph lines caught fire and the event was reported globally. At that time, electronic systems were not the center of daily life. Today, an event the size of Carrington could completely alter the complexion of daily life.
Mississippi State University Professor David Wallace he wrote at Astronomy.com the potential ramifications could be disastrous:
“It is only a matter of time before Earth is hit by another geomagnetic storm. A storm the size of the Carrington Event would be extremely damaging to electrical and communications systems around the world, with outages lasting weeks. If the storm is the size of the Miyake Event, the results would be catastrophic for the world, with possible disruptions lasting months, if not longer.”
That time could be this weekend. A huge solar storm is hitting Earth, bringing the threat of possible disruptions to satellites and electrical grids. As the world faces a “severe” geomagnetic storm, according to NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center, infrastructure operators are on edge due to the possible consequences of the solar event, which has significant implications for the crypto industry.
When the first of the six solar waves reached the Earth it was already experimenting a G4 electromagnetic storm – the loudest in 19 years. The current storm affecting electronics, etc., would not be entirely unprecedented, as geomagnetic storms are classified as “extreme” led to blackouts in Sweden and damaged power transformers in South Africa in October 2003.
Scientists warn that these events happen at higher frequencies than previously thought and could be catastrophic. For example, tree rings studied by scientists revealed two solar solid proton events that occurred in 7176 and 5259 BC, which were not previously known.
Solar storms of increasing frequency have implications for the electronics on which cryptography depends. Geomagnetic storms can disrupt satellite communications and electrical grids. Solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) can damage computer hardware. These sudden bursts of energy can release radiation across the electromagnetic spectrum, including X-rays and ultraviolet light.
The high-energy particles induce electrical currents in a computer’s components, possibly causing damage or corruption of data. The central processing unit (CPU), random access memory (RAM), and hard disk drives are most at risk due to their electromagnetic interference, possibly causing them to malfunction or completely fail. Electromagnetic radiation can interrupt communication between hardware components, causing system failures or errors.
At the very least, disturbances can cause crypto exchanges and wallet downtime. Even a small period of inactivity can lead to significant financial losses for market participants. Multi-signature wallets and strict authentication protocols can also protect companies against disruptions caused by space weather.
With that said, sufficiently decentralized blockchains – like the Bitcoin blockchain – would persist.
Bitcoin was transmitted radio It is MESH networks, although the use of its blockchain was very slow. Even Lightning payments have was sent over the radio.
CMEs, in the worst case scenario, would remove electronic components from the side of the planet facing the Sun at the moment of the explosion. This part of the planet, however, would face serious setbacks. Power lines, consumer electronics and medical devices would be rendered useless.
Solar storms with the potential to disrupt life on Earth make an excellent argument in favor of a decentralized financial system. A blockchain would continue with block production and transactions validated by all nodes that were on the dark side of the Earth when the solar storm occurred.
The decentralized nature of crypto would prove to be superior to the centralized structure of the conventional banking system. The internet was designed in a distributed way with enough redundancy to survive a nuclear attack. Bitcoin, for example, has thousands of Bitcoin nodes, which means it is more likely to survive a catastrophic event than a financial system based on centralized data servers. If at least one node survives, the entire system can be reconstituted from that seed.