What will happen to bitcoin on a world war?

[BlackHatCoiner]

In my opinion, a world war is literally the worst thing that can happen to humanity, with or without bitcoin.

Wars happen because countries can't pay up their debts, so they "pay up" this way. (Again, in my opinion, no misunderstandings)
In a war, the fiat loses its value. I had a discussion with a friend about what could happen to bitcoin in a war. He said that it will surely collapse. I am not so sure about it.

Although, think about it for a while. In a world war, the last thing someone has is access to the internet. Would bitcoins lose their value?

History has shown that gold is the money that "reborns" fiat. At least after a war. I would like to read some thoughts.

[DougM]

In my opinion, a world war is literally the worst thing that can happen to humanity, with or without bitcoin.

Wars happen because countries can't pay up their debts, so they "pay up" this way. (Again, in my opinion, no misunderstandings)
In a war, the fiat loses its value. I had a discussion with a friend about what could happen to bitcoin in a war. He said that it will surely collapse. I am not so sure about it.

Although, think about it for a while. In a world war, the last thing someone has is access to the internet. Would bitcoins lose their value?

History has shown that gold is the money that "reborns" fiat. At least after a war. I would like to read some thoughts.

Interesting but dark question!  If a third world war it is hard to imagine it won't escalate to involve nuclear weapons so I agree the outcome would "literally the worst thing that can happen to humanity" and nothing like the outcome of the two world wars in terms of utter devastation IMHO.  Given that bitcoin is largely 'electronic' being completely reliant on computers to operation and currently its energy consumption now comparable to Czech Republic* I would think the mining industry would be devastated at the very least so how would transactions get verified?  I am pretty bitcoin would be forgotten and we would return back to barter system or at least something that doesn't rely on world wide network of computers to still be functioning.

*Bitcoin’s Energy Consumption Grows, Now Comparable to Czech Republic

power consumption of the entire Bitcoin network, Bitcoin is currently estimated to use 67.927 terawatt-hours (TWh) per year, as of Thursday
...Bitcoin's energy consumption now ranks above Switzerland, Kuwait, and Algeria on that list.

[BlackHatCoiner]

The bitcoin is made in way that even if half of the miners cannot afford mining, then the difficulty will adjuct as well. So I don't think that transactions will ~never get confirmed.

[AniviaBtc]

Probably, some governments are using bitcoin to buy some weapons or warheads that can be used in case of a war.

They are not saying it in the public because it can cause panic and anxiousness towards this conflict. When world war occurs, it depends if bitcoin will lose its value depending on the amount or the severity of the disaster that it brought to the humanity. If this war eliminate most of the humanity and it affect most of the percentages in the world then money and all other currency will become useless.

No one will benefit all of the money that they earned and worked for if this war really occurs, everything will become useless except, lives.

[peterpanda]

Bitcoin is a decentralized coin and it has a great value. Some government will use bitcoin as their payment method at the time of world war. But it is sure that bitcoin will lose its price randomly.

[Latviand]

I think there would be a rapid increase in the price of BTC because of uncertainty. Fiat currencies would lose their value as people scramble for food and shelter. Since gold isn't easy to carry around, BTC would be the perfect alternative since one can migrate to another country and access their BTC from the cloud. But all this depends on how bad the war gets.

Why??? People are dying due to the conflict between two or more countries then probably most of the countries near it will be also affected. I don't think that bitcoin will have an increase in its price because money will become useless and not be used to survive as people will not value and will don't care about it anymore.

That's the reality when we experience war. Development and advancement of technologies helped the strengthening of those nuclear warheads and explosive so this modern war will not be the same like before. Humanity can be vanished in just a week or two if war really happens.

Survival during times of war really matters the most, you don't need to but things amidst of war, some people are just scavenging market just like what is happening during riot.

[sheenshane]

This could be a wild imagination that surely rare to happen.  

The same on other national currencies, Bitcoin might also be unusable due to the possibility that they were affected by the world war(take note: we are talking about the world war, not just by the two countries fighting each other) or some reason the internet infrastructures will collapse including those internet providers, and Bitcoin will become worthless if can't even run the nodes without internet(It might run through satellite network but I didn't this matter). Possible shutting down in all electricity sources that people possibly didn't have even access to the internet or on the computer.

This is the very worst imagination when it comes to the humanity race, would you think all valuable asset will probably become important if there is a world war? Even Bitcoin, fiat or gold doesn't matter. Probably they are just chasing food, waters, and medicine just to survive. Lol, I remember this scenario upon watching movies on Netflix, intitled "Z Nation" movie series, there is a humanity race vs zombie.

[carlisle1]

I think People before war started will surely find where they can set safe their Assets and as i believe Bitcoin is one of the Option they can use.
Imagine that Internet will still be available(though in limited places only) and this will remain Rich people in update with their holdings.
and also after the war Crypto will stand still and maybe supported by the winning country though they cannot manipulate nor control na crypto market.

[plvbob0070]

If a world war might really happen, I don't think people would think about money or even crypto first because what will matter is how can we survive from all the attacks? Bitcoin can really collapse, even other currencies. But bitcoin will always be there however, you won't be able to use it when you die, so lives matter more I guess. It's just like the previous wars, after it, countries will need a lot of years to recover from it.

[jademaxsuy]

fiat currency will losses its capacity to buy during world war. Money could not buy for food nor it could be use for comfort because during war survival is the kry by keeping  food. bitcoin also will be no value during war because we know that bitcoin us being back by fiat currency. However, after the war fiat could be restore to its function but I guess not the digital currency like bitcoin. War is destructive and losses will be high like lossing hardware wallet and seed phrase. It is expected that there will be many users to lose bitcoin that could not be recovered.

[The Cryptovator]

First of all, let's expect there will no more world war. If it happens then it will another war to sustain human existence. So, definitely, we will encounter big effects on Bitcoin as well. Just to notify you, bitcoin value and bitcoin price isn't the same thing. Value depends on the community and the current price depends on the traders. I am assuming during the world war, mostly the price will be affected instead of value. Because the community already exists, but there will be a global crisis during the world war, as a result, bitcoin price would dump hugely. People will be panic and would sell their holding bitcoin for real cash. That's what we encountered at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic although after we are seeing a good movement. Anyway, I believe bitcoin will collapse overall the same as other currencies if happen world war.

[AjithBtc]

A world war can create a big impact over the entire economy of the countries involved in it. Apart from that there'll be minor market collapse with rest of the countries, as every country is tied up with businesses.

When we talk about bitcoin after a world war, the network would've got weakened as miners are the sole responsible for every transaction. If I'm not wrong a world war can lead to a major correction by which it might fall back to three digit value, because each and everything happens in a cyclic pattern.

[20kevin20]

Besides EMP-affected areas, why would we have no more access to the internet in case of a world war?

Anyway, the thing is, in a such scenario I think Bitcoin is somewhere around the bottom of our lists of priorities. Besides carrying the seed around with you to make sure your BTC is still yours, I doubt anyone would bother to check how much a Bitcoin is anymore. And putting all those priorities to the side.. let's be real for a minute - do you think the spark of another world war would end up sweet for the humanity? I doubt so. To be honest, it might actually be one of the last things I'd be worried about.

Times have changed so much since WW2 though, so it's quite hard to predict what would stand today in a war. The thing is, with or without internet, Bitcoins can be so easily carried in comparison with anything else, from cash to (especially) precious metals. You can literally just take a small piece of paper with you and there goes all your BTC (or even alts as well).

But once again, Bitcoin's fate depends on the way we'd treat it during the war: is it a safe haven asset we'll use to get through the hard times or would we just sell everything once things go dark? That's the decisive factor. Without enough strong hands who highly trust Bitcoin as a completely decentralized system that would never scam you out or seize your bucks, it'd get heavily dumped.


“I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.”
                                                                                                                                                  - Albert Einstein

[Killrbit]

In my opinion, a world war is literally the worst thing that can happen to humanity, with or without bitcoin.

Wars happen because countries can't pay up their debts, so they "pay up" this way. (Again, in my opinion, no misunderstandings)
In a war, the fiat loses its value. I had a discussion with a friend about what could happen to bitcoin in a war. He said that it will surely collapse. I am not so sure about it.

Although, think about it for a while. In a world war, the last thing someone has is access to the internet. Would bitcoins lose their value?

History has shown that gold is the money that "reborns" fiat. At least after a war. I would like to read some thoughts.

This really would be an interesting scenario (not the whole war bit of course). i actually dont Bitcoin would collapse here rather its value as a censorship resistant payment mechanism and its decentralized nature would prove very useful. More often than not in times of war fiat currencies often go through high inflation while locals of a war torn region often have to resort to barter and the country itself would most likely be subject to sanctions by hostile nations making imports of essential goods difficult.

And as far as the internet is concerned cryptocurrencies could technically be transmitted over radio.

The ongoing wars in Syria could be seen as an interesting case study here ( I know its not a world war situation here but a lot of the same points apply) Check out these articles :

1) https://www.coindesk.com/a-war-torn-country-in-syria-will-use-crypto-to-power-an-anarchist-state

2) https://www.coindesk.com/sand-death-and-cryptocurrency-life-in-a-decentralized-syria

[TedMosby]

world war 3 most likely an economic warfare.
but, the bridge to this economic warfare still uncertain.
if you love conspiracy theories, you can speculate that this pandemic situation is one of the bridges.

it's already happening now.
-the global recession
-stocks market down.

-gold price significantly up.
-defi (blockchain) boom, may lead bitcoin and other cryptos to the moon.

“I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.”
                                                                                                                                                  - Albert Einstein

Man, this is very deep 

[seoincorporation]

In my opinion, a world war is literally the worst thing that can happen to humanity, with or without bitcoin.
...

It's sad, but a world war is the best thing that could happen to bitcoin. When countries are under war the fiat starts losing cost, remember, the war represents an enormous cost for each country, so, if people see bitcoin as a secure way to hold their money without risking it, then not only the people we buy, the govs will back up some of the country money on bitcoin, that way bitcoin price could go to the moon, and i'm talking about $1M/1btc.

But at the same time the govs will not let people spend all their money on bitcoin, so, it should become illegal in some parts of the world.

[k@suy]

In my opinion, a world war is literally the worst thing that can happen to humanity, with or without bitcoin.
...

It's sad, but a world war is the best thing that could happen to bitcoin. When countries are under war the fiat starts losing cost, remember, the war represents an enormous cost for each country, so, if people see bitcoin as a secure way to hold their money without risking it, then not only the people we buy, the govs will back up some of the country money on bitcoin, that way bitcoin price could go to the moon, and i'm talking about $1M/1btc.

But at the same time the govs will not let people spend all their money on bitcoin, so, it should become illegal in some parts of the world.

The world war will eventually affect the bitcoin's status and I think if this will happen on the time in which bitcoin is already a part of each and everyone else's life, most of us will get poor and most of us will experience poverty. Actually there are a lot of things that the world war can be affected not only the bitcoin and all of it's effect will be negative.

[Reid]

IIRC, I have that same thought a year ago.
I think it was the time when China and USA are in heat about certain events. (can't remember clearly)

I asked myself, what if these two went to war?
Of course, allied countries will help out and it may become a World War.

No one would think about the internet. I won't. I'll take every food that I can get that will last longer.
This kind of peace where you just watch Netflix every day will change. Suddenly, you always want to be updated with the news.
I think your friend thinks it will be dumped because a lot will sell. High possibility. I also might sell.
Necessities to live is the priority rather than other things. Money won't be that valuable with a war going on.

[online73]

Hello to all. I believe that we are talking about a world nuclear war, because at the current level of weapons, a world war can only be nuclear. With such an outcome, humanity will either completely die out, or roll back into the "Stone Age" - we will again make money from shells. I think that in a nuclear world war in a couple of years no one will remember Bitcoin at all. I think the leaders of the leading nuclear countries understand what they are doing and where they are leading our civilization.

[Asuspawer09]

In my opinion, a world war is literally the worst thing that can happen to humanity, with or without bitcoin.

Wars happen because countries can't pay up their debts, so they "pay up" this way. (Again, in my opinion, no misunderstandings)
In a war, the fiat loses its value. I had a discussion with a friend about what could happen to bitcoin in a war. He said that it will surely collapse. I am not so sure about it.

Although, think about it for a while. In a world war, the last thing someone has is access to the internet. Would bitcoins lose their value?

History has shown that gold is the money that "reborns" fiat. At least after a war. I would like to read some thoughts.

We don't actually know what could happen to the bitcoin when World War happened but for sure it will have a huge effect on the market and on bitcoin.

In my opinion, at times of war transactions are important since it would be needed to purchase firepower, but not actually sure since there are so many currencies that could be used at this point aside from bitcoin. Money is important if you want to be protected. Or in the times of war bitcoin could easily be useless since most of the time it is all about surviving and it might affect bitcoin market price making it useless in some countries. But I guess it depends on what situation the war would make to the world.