Bitcoin/Power outage.

[swissie]

Asked by a true amateur: What will happen to Bitcoin and other Cyber currencies if there is a local/global Power failure lasting longer than (let's say) 2 weeks?

 

A question asked by an amateur, hoping for answers from unbiased professionals.

[Appu]

As long as solar and other off the grid powered mining farms operate, bitcoin will work just fine and those people who owns those off the grid farms will be richer those two weeks , since they only have power to solve bitcoin blocks. On contrary , at same time, all banks will stop operation until power grid is back, since there is no centralized fiat bank operating just off the grid. They cannot switch to paper only work like 100 years ago, since ALL balances are electronically stored,. They will be forced to stop or hard limit withdraws due to mass histeria caused by such long term outage. Remember, total bitcoin value currently is 400b usd, and total printed fiat money is larger than 150 trillion (from which USA have actually small part, "just little above 2 trillion"). You need just one mobile phone processing to solve move the bitcoin blocks, that is not issue. Keeping some type of low solar power peer to peer internet for mining rigs will need some few hours work, since without grid power,. In few hours all mobile and other networks just stop working. So conclusion, bitcoin will do fine, banks - not so much until grid is back.

[clokwise]

Bitcoins are just strings of text which are stored in exchanges or digital wallets, neither of which need power to maintain these bitcoin hashes. The exchanges, where you trade bitcoin with others, would be down, but since no one else can get online either during this hypothetical global outage, the value would not rise nor fall. In fact, you can write down your digital wallet address on a piece of paper and lock it up in a safe. Your bitcoin is as safe as your safe.

 

However, if there were a global power failure, you've got WAY bigger problems than losing your bitcoin. You'd be better off by stocking supplies, including guns and ammo, and hopefully you will already know how to farm, collect water, and survive by yourself. You won't be able to lookup "how-to" tips anymore if the internet is down.

 

[kekalot]

1 hour ago, clokwise said:

Bitcoins are just strings of text which are stored in exchanges or digital wallets, neither of which need power to maintain these bitcoin hashes. The exchanges, where you trade bitcoin with others, would be down, but since no one else can get online either during this hypothetical global outage, the value would not rise nor fall. In fact, you can write down your digital wallet address on a piece of paper and lock it up in a safe. Your bitcoin is as safe as your safe.

 

However, if there were a global power failure, you've got WAY bigger problems than losing your bitcoin. You'd be better off by stocking supplies, including guns and ammo, and hopefully you will already know how to farm, collect water, and survive by yourself. You won't be able to lookup "how-to" tips anymore if the internet is down.

 

 

not sure what writing a wallet address would do, you can't recover anything with this and they are public

you must have meant writing down your private keys and/or seed phrase

[clokwise]

22 hours ago, kekalot said:

 

not sure what writing a wallet address would do, you can't recover anything with this and they are public

you must have meant writing down your private keys and/or seed phrase

 

Tis true, I'll blame it on a brain fart. Point was, bitcoins can be physical instruments, they do not have to be digital, thus not reliant on electricity or RAM or SD cards or anything electronic whatsoever. Even exchanges can be physical, just swap your handwritten key for the goods, though good luck finding someone who will accept that.

[swissie]

On 11/27/2020 at 3:27 AM, clokwise said:

Bitcoins are just strings of text which are stored in exchanges or digital wallets, neither of which need power to maintain these bitcoin hashes. The exchanges, where you trade bitcoin with others, would be down, but since no one else can get online either during this hypothetical global outage, the value would not rise nor fall. In fact, you can write down your digital wallet address on a piece of paper and lock it up in a safe. Your bitcoin is as safe as your safe.

 

However, if there were a global power failure, you've got WAY bigger problems than losing your bitcoin. You'd be better off by stocking supplies, including guns and ammo, and hopefully you will already know how to farm, collect water, and survive by yourself. You won't be able to lookup "how-to" tips anymore if the internet is down.

 

Totally agree. In case of a global power failure, we would have other things to worry about than crypto currencies, that (for the time being) only should make up a rather small part of ones assets anyway.
A global power failure is not very likely. Unless an exploding Super-Nova sends a cloud of Gamma-Rays directly our way. Or someone pushes the "red-button" and sends us into a Nuclear-Winter, lasting some 200 years.

[ukrules]

So long as all power remained off around the world then there would be no problem.

 

The multiple chain forks caused by a lack of connectivity, etc would begin once different areas come back online at different times.

 

It would be a mess, a very big mess and all exchanges would cease trading until it was sorted out.

 

There is only 1 rule in the end - the longest chain is the current chain......