Apocalyptic Scenario - What happens to Bitcoin?

[Nalbo]

There's no way of verifying a transaction without an internet. No centralized valuation would work. People would revert back to goods to goods exchange. There would be no capital and the one who produces are the rich ones. There would be no jobs as now and everyone would revert back to farming, herding or being iron smith.

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[Baofeng]

Of course, worst case scenario, bitcoin will be hit hard if there are no proper infrastructure i.e. power, electricity and internet. But people are resilient, they could think a better way to circumvent in this kind of scenario. Of course gold will be the only option, just look at how gold becomes so important in wars specially WWII. However, as I have said, people will find ways in this setup, and I think bitcoin will still be used to exchange as means of money.

[pooya87]

Many claim that bitcoin will be worthless and gold, guns, and ammunition will be very valuable.

in your apocalyptic scenario, ask yourself this:
can you eat gold, bitcoin,...? can it keep you warm at night? can it protect you against intruders?
you see when there is a disaster as you describe, there is no society anymore and concept of money will no longer exist so anything that has been used as money will cease to exist and barter system will replace it. barter means you give food and receive ammunition for protection and things like that.

[princesspoppy]

If there will be no internet and electricity in that apocalyptic scenario that will lead us to chaos if that future is to come,  then bitcoin will have no value at all.  People will not be able to have access and will not be able to make transactions out of it.  It will be useless.  Traditional currency will be used to trade goods not gold and bitcoins.

[CryptoBry]

There's no way of verifying a transaction without an internet. No centralized valuation would work. People would revert back to goods to goods exchange. There would be no capital and the one who produces are the rich ones. There would be no jobs as now and everyone would revert back to farming, herding or being iron smith.

That is, if we are still alive by then. I am sure that life as we know it right now would screech to a halt and yes we can go back to the very basics where we produce our own foods in order to survive under a very difficult condition. Of course, by then, let's hope that there is already the popular way of sending bitcoin offline but still we need to have power (if the sun still good it can provide this essential element) but then again money may not be that important in the next few years for people left alive and surviving.  Let's just hope this scenario will fail to become a reality.

[ulhaq]

Was it blockstream that was launching satellites into space? So maybe the bitcoin network will be more resilient than people think.

The consensus is that gold is worthless as well. But as society recovers, possibly bitcoin value will surpass gold because of the ability to easily transfer it? If there is no recovery, then many things will be useless. 

[YuginKadoya]

Was it blockstream that was launching satellites into space? So maybe the bitcoin network will be more resilient than people think.

The consensus is that gold is worthless as well. But as society recovers, possibly bitcoin value will surpass gold because of the ability to easily transfer it? If there is no recovery, then many things will be useless. 

Yup! and I think it is still in progress, And their primary goal was for people that don't have an internet connection and another way to download its full node or maybe this is another solution if a cataclysmic event may happen to really secure the digital money in my opinion,

I think this is the link for the article https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-in-space-it-helps-with-connection-woes-says-blockstreams-adam-back

Well if that Apocalyptic thing may happen and all sudden surge of an electromagnetic pulse to damage all electrical devices and mostly internet connection I guess one solution is what Blockstream is trying to do, But that is a large project and will need a lot of financial assistance.

[Kakmakr]

Ok, ask yourself this question : What will happen to the traditional Banking system when a massive electromagnetic pulses hits earth and knock out all communication and electronic devices? The Stock markets will collapse for a while and the ATMs and Banks will not be accessible until spare parts can be sourced to repair them.

Emergency procedures are already in place to restore basic communication, when things like this happens. Some data storage are done on non-magnetic storage media. Some tinfoil hats out there also use a faraday cage to protect their devices from such an event. 

[imstillthebest]

There's no way of verifying a transaction without an internet. No centralized valuation would work. People would revert back to goods to goods exchange. There would be no capital and the one who produces are the rich ones. There would be no jobs as now and everyone would revert back to farming, herding or being iron smith.

you can verify a transaction without an internet , that is the same as when you verify a signed message using an wallet/app  . I heard that you can also use your cryptos without internet but in the form of hotspot wifi but this should be done in a specific range  . And how can you say that there will be no jobs without internet ?  Cant you see before people still have a job even if internet is not invented a long time ago  .

[Betwrong]

Alright, let's imagine a situation when the strength of electric field  is below 200 kV/m (Kilovolts per meter), which is more or less safe for humans. Yes, most part of electrical equipment will fail to continue operating, but not all equipment will be damaged. Electrical devices situated in shielded basements will survive (and we know that there are a lot of such basements around the world). Now, the price of Bitcoin will certainly drop to the level below 2 pizzas for 10,000 BTC, but I'm sure some people will be still mining almost empty blocks on their laptops, just in case. They will be able to do that on their laptops because the difficulty will drop to the appropriate level. Then during the first 2-3 years after the catastrophe Bitcoin, of course, will be worthless, as many have pointed out in this thread. But when things will begin to improve, Bitcoin may appear the most suitable currency for such a world.

[figmentofmyass]

Now, the price of Bitcoin will certainly drop to the level below 2 pizzas for 10,000 BTC, but I'm sure some people will be still mining almost empty blocks on their laptops, just in case. They will be able to do that on their laptops because the difficulty will drop to the appropriate level.

that assumes the network will reach the next difficulty adjustment. let's say the event occurs shortly after the last retarget. if the only machines left mining are laptops, the hash rate may drop so drastically that the network will never reach the next difficulty adjustment. the network could literally grind to a halt.

[Chikitita2004]

In an apocalyptic event, nothing will be more valuable, not even life. Everyone will be after their own safety and good. That will be a time of chaos and even your millions of dollars in banks can also be worthless and useless. Internet could be interrupted and could be scarce as well and since bitcoin is dependent on internet so there will be no use of it and not even buying and selling.

[damberg]

Since you cannot "write" Bitcoin on paper, massive power outage, near apocalyptic scenario would make Bitcoin redundant. However, turmoil in different parts of the world could lead to higher Bitcoin prices (of course nobody wishes for such atrocities).

[smyslov]

What happens to the value of bitcoin in an apocalyptic scenario? Eg, if the world starts getting hit with electromagnetic pulses which knock out power, or let's say the report that came out a few days ago is true, that civilization as we know it deteriorates by 2050 due to mass migration from climate change.

Many claim that bitcoin will be worthless and gold, guns, and ammunition will be very valuable. On the other hand it has been claimed that bitcoin requires very little infrastructure and would work much better than other things. If bitcoin is truly a store of value, then it should store value, especially in unfavorable circumstances.

All wars that come render fiat almost useless if there is a catastrophe and there were a power outage, that could be the end of Bitcoin because Bitcoin is internet based, some countries that are not affected can confirm the transactions, but volume and the price will dramatically decrease, people will be in a hurry to dump and buy essentials with their fiat money.

[davis196]

What happens to the value of bitcoin in an apocalyptic scenario? Eg, if the world starts getting hit with electromagnetic pulses which knock out power, or let's say the report that came out a few days ago is true, that civilization as we know it deteriorates by 2050 due to mass migration from climate change.

Many claim that bitcoin will be worthless and gold, guns, and ammunition will be very valuable. On the other hand it has been claimed that bitcoin requires very little infrastructure and would work much better than other things. If bitcoin is truly a store of value, then it should store value especially in unfavorable circumstances.

This has been discussed many times before.
If a global apocalypse happens,nobody would care about bitcoin or cryptocurrencies.
There will be a battle for survival,where food,water,simple tools and maybe weapons will have the higher value.

[pushups44]

What happens to the value of bitcoin in an apocalyptic scenario? Eg, if the world starts getting hit with electromagnetic pulses which knock out power, or let's say the report that came out a few days ago is true, that civilization as we know it deteriorates by 2050 due to mass migration from climate change.

Many claim that bitcoin will be worthless and gold, guns, and ammunition will be very valuable. On the other hand it has been claimed that bitcoin requires very little infrastructure and would work much better than other things. If bitcoin is truly a store of value, then it should store value especially in unfavorable circumstances.

One very real possibility, albeit small, is for a giant asteroid to strike the Earth and take us back to the Dark Age. In this scenario even gold would be worthless, because the most basic need will be food and water. You need a relatively sophisticated society for gold to be used as a medium of exchange. I imagine this would also be the case if the electrical grid shut down - the top commodities would be food and water. Anyway, absolutely nothing is a guarantee, including the very existence of man.

[coin-investor]

There's no way of verifying a transaction without an internet. No centralized valuation would work. People would revert back to goods to goods exchange. There would be no capital and the one who produces are the rich ones. There would be no jobs as now and everyone would revert back to farming, herding or being iron smith.

That's what eventually will happen without the internet, I spend my adult life without the internet and because I cannot trade anymore I will have to find jobs or get into jobs that are not related to cryptocurrency it's like back in the 90's without the internet.

[Ucy]

Nothing much will happen unless the disaster happens on a global scale and hitting every inch of our planet.

I doubt Gold and other precious metals would worth much. Foods, medicine, information, basic technologies will worth alot.


If bitcoin blockchain survives, it will most likely be an alternative to bartering.  There will be lots of leaderless groups of survivors or even  communities after thw global disaster and there main medium of exchanges will likely be barter or Bitcoin. . .  It is leaderless, not large physically, fairly fast, global, decentralized and immutable unlike fiat and its large centralized servers.

[dothebeats]

The most important commodity of all during those times would probably be oil, generator, batteries and other forms of energy to generate electricity. Cash would still be king, gold too, as for bitcoin, well, we don't know whether people will still cling on to the value of that after the said event. Most likely people will live like the times of pre-Industrial Revolution where electricity isn't widely spread out yet. For sure this will not trigger a post-apocalyptic, chaotic scene like those seen on movies and video games; governments would still be functional, it's just that we're lacking on the luxury of electronic devices and the comfort of stable homes.

So yeah, I don't think bitcoin would hold value by then.

[Nolimitz84]

In such scenario, the whole of our planet and the human connectivity will be in total chaos, and nothing will work for a while, our system both digital and traditional will be in trouble. So not only the bitcoin is going to be affected. Both such won't happen now, it's reserved for the future.

I don't think we should have bad thoughts.Thoughts materialize.If we assume that the Apocalypse really happens,the interest in bitcoin will certainly disappear.People will need food,water and medicine.