Bitcoin without electricity

[Sanugarid]

If the world was suddenly without electricity we'd have much bigger problems than currency.

I highly agree with your statement. Instead of worrying about what will happen to BTC without electricity, it should be what will the world looks like when the world runs out of power. Without electricity, every aspect of human life is affected and It feels like you were living in a stone age where money does not really matter. It's all about survival after all.

[Ucy]

I think it's possible to create a product with something like paper/leather/polymer that has Bitcoin private keys that's sealed by panel that can be scratched or peeled off without scratching off the keys.
You could have thousands of such papers/materials printed and distributed by trustworthy Decentralized Companies for offline buying and selling of goods and services without verification of the private keys. You can always scratch off the panel and verify the private keys when you find network/electricity, Or you can keep using the paper/material to buy and sell without scratching off the panel. Once the panel is scrated off, the paper is taken off from circulation.
This could be safer than paper fiats... afterall, you can't guarantee that the paper fiat is not counterfeit unless maybe the banks verify it.

[MrcMrc]

Electricity is as crucial as the internet to Bitcoin, it’s important to know the role electricity play in Bitcoin not only miners need high electricity to confirm transactions, and even the ordinary bitcoin user needs electricity to power your device to connect to the bitcoin network.

[Oasisman]

One thing that remains critical to using bitcoin is energy. Energy to mine, and validate transactions. Energy to trade. And energy to access our wallets.
But is it possible, to be able to use Bitcoin even when we don't have energy?

Today, if I run out of electricity at home and want to go buy some batteries, for a flashlight, I can go to a store with some fiat coins and buy batteries. But that would not be possible if you want to make that purchase in Bitcoins. This remains a very good advantage for fiat coins.

How can Bitcoin overcome this problem?

The real question is, how can humans overcome "IF" this kind of problem occurs.
Why would we always assume to things which is almost impossible to happen.
There are still several relevant problems of Bitcoin other than the absence of electricity, because we have different type of electricity sources.

[Kittygalore]

Electricity is as crucial as the internet to Bitcoin, it’s important to know the role electricity play in Bitcoin not only miners need high electricity to confirm transactions, and even the ordinary bitcoin user needs electricity to power your device to connect to the bitcoin network.

It's not just crucial in my opinion, it is the lifeline of our civilization, I stand by the words of George Carlin about electricity, when we pull the plug out of electricity, chaos will ensue and things will never be the same and we will go extinct as a species really fast.

[davis196]

Anybody asking the questions "How to use Paypal without electricity?" or "How to use your online banking account without electricity?" NO,but such questions arise only when it comes to Bitcoin.I wonder why...
If you want to completely exclude electricity from the equation,then the only option would be to just print paper satoshis and find someone,who will accept them as payment.Good luck.
The modern civilization can't exist without electricity.Maybe in the not-so-distant future,the people will produce energy from the solar panels on their roofs,so they won't rely on power plants.

[blckhawk]

One thing that remains critical to using bitcoin is energy. Energy to mine, and validate transactions. Energy to trade. And energy to access our wallets.
But is it possible, to be able to use Bitcoin even when we don't have energy?

Today, if I run out of electricity at home and want to go buy some batteries, for a flashlight, I can go to a store with some fiat coins and buy batteries. But that would not be possible if you want to make that purchase in Bitcoins. This remains a very good advantage for fiat coins.

How can Bitcoin overcome this problem?

For now, I don't think we can do something about it because Bitcoin is a digital currency and that means it must have energy for you to operate it so there's no way you can make a transaction with Bitcoin if you run out of electricity. That is the reason why it can never replace fiat in that way, so yeah fiat is much better to use in this kind of circumstances. Besides, I think everything will be a mess if we ran out of energy not only Bitcoin but the majority of the transaction across the world whether it is physical or virtual.

[TastyChillySauce00]

This problem regarding electricity and bitcoin's waste of energy actually could push people forward to invent any energy generator that could sustain bitcoin while at the same time we find a way for bitcoin to solve its own problem of energy inefficiency.
I know there's plenty of solutions and that's already proposed to the bitcoin community but how about mini nuclear reactor to power the mining rigs, anyone?
Maybe we need something like PoW but better in managing the energy so most of them doesn't get wasted for nothing. However I personally like the idea to incentivize miners with renewable energy.

[CaVO32]

Most of the posts assumes that the electrical outage is localized, which isn't the point of this post if I understand correctly.

Exactly!
Perhaps the example I set was not the best.

But the point here is, that if there is a more widespread power failure (I don't even say it is global) the use of bitcoin is no longer possible.
It is common to say that the person must have a small reserve of money, along with the emergency kit, in case of a natural catastrophe. It is not possible to do this with bitcoin.
Of course, the lack of energy in such a situation is the least of our problems.

But was there any way to make bitcoin, something that can be used in a scenario where electricity is not an option? Perhaps that is impossible.
Even because it happens, with the money we have in the bank, if there is a general lack of energy.

I can't think of any way that bitcoin can be used if there is no source of energy, power bank included or any independent source of energy. So yes, we still do need cash in this scenario. Having bitcoin in your wallet is useless in this situation. But with today's situation, there will always be a source of energy unless, you are really in the remote area where you don't even know how to use solar/wind energy.

[affandi]

If the world is without electricity all access to communication, the economy to clean water and offices will no longer operate, even making the current economic sector worse than the Covid-19 pandemic, it is like bitcoin without electricity, all access to mining, buying and selling transactions and communication between investors, traders are all disconnected and it can result in quite a big loss, as recently what happened in Xianjiang China, due to the blackout does show a fundamental weakness even though the Bitcoin network is decentralized. But the miners didn't, and it cost the miners a loss.

[Zoe Saldana]

One thing that remains critical to using bitcoin is energy. Energy to mine, and validate transactions. Energy to trade. And energy to access our wallets.
But is it possible, to be able to use Bitcoin even when we don't have energy?

Today, if I run out of electricity at home and want to go buy some batteries, for a flashlight, I can go to a store with some fiat coins and buy batteries. But that would not be possible if you want to make that purchase in Bitcoins. This remains a very good advantage for fiat coins.

How can Bitcoin overcome this problem?

I wouldn't worry about it.  For a short term emergency have some cash.  For long term you will be dead.
https://www.powermag.com/expect-death-if-pulse-event-hits-power-grid/

[molsewid]

If the world is without electricity all access to communication, the economy to clean water and offices will no longer operate, even making the current economic sector worse than the Covid-19 pandemic, it is like bitcoin without electricity, all access to mining, buying and selling transactions and communication between investors, traders are all disconnected and it can result in quite a big loss, as recently what happened in Xianjiang China, due to the blackout does show a fundamental weakness even though the Bitcoin network is decentralized. But the miners didn't, and it cost the miners a loss.

Electricity plays huge factor in our daily lives from household chores, work, businesses and economy. Especially now that we currently facing Covid-19 people used a lot of electricity in their home because majority work from home to economy to work. Also, in bitcoin electricity really play huge factor to it to work. Without it people can't invest and trade, mining and buying and selling. I think it's simple thing we weren't appreciate sometimes.

[Alert31]

One thing that remains critical to using bitcoin is energy. Energy to mine, and validate transactions. Energy to trade. And energy to access our wallets.
But is it possible, to be able to use Bitcoin even when we don't have energy?

Today, if I run out of electricity at home and want to go buy some batteries, for a flashlight, I can go to a store with some fiat coins and buy batteries. But that would not be possible if you want to make that purchase in Bitcoins. This remains a very good advantage for fiat coins.

How can Bitcoin overcome this problem?

I think energy to use bitcoin is not a problem if ever there will be an electricity collapse. We can use a solar power to save energy in our power bank so that we can continue use our bitcoin and other digital activities. But I think it won't happen because in our generation we already used modern technology that rely on electricity, So, people will always think and find many ways to sustain the electricity even in the future generation because the development of technology continuous even in the future.

[pixie85]

I'll give you a number o solutions:

Buy backups like power banks, ups, gasoline, diesel or natural gas generators, solar panels...
A single industrial grade UPS can provide power for your phone, internet router and lights for many days. It can even power your fridge for a day if needed.

I always have a fully charged power bank and a chargeable light source at home.

[dificanovi]

if there is a power outage for a very long time then we will not use Bitcoin and other digital currencies. all of them need electricity so that computers and other electronic devices can be used properly.
I think that if the electricity around the world is not alive anymore then cryptocurrencies will also disappear and this is probably a sign that the end of the world is very near.

[Ucy]

If you want to completely exclude electricity from the equation,then the only option would be to just print paper satoshis and find someone,who will accept them as payment.Good luck. .

This will actually work fine without needing to verify transactions online. You just download your "offline Blockchain", print loads of private keys securely at a designated location, and spend them without the internet. Then update/sync your node with the rest of the once in a while.

*Better to print the keys/coins in small Denominations

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

even bill gates saying crypto had impact on global warming . in some area using highest electric power bigger than any states for mining crypto it affect global warming its possible to make enviroment non eco friendly . he said bitcoin isn't environmentally friendly.4 Mar 2021  source here https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a35717144/bill-gates-bitcoin-energy-climate/

[joker_josue]

I didn't say that we would be without power forever. Of course, this was widespread chaos, and the lack of energy would affect the entire economic system.

The point here is a temporary issue of several days.

I believe that all of us at some point in our lives, when we haven't had electricity for several hours (I don't even mean poorer countries).
And even then, if they need anything, we can go to a store to buy (even if that store also lacked energy).

The point here is, is it possible that Bitcoin can be used in some way at these times?

This will probably never be possible, but it can be an interesting point of analysis.

[rodskee]

If you have a potato or lemon farm you can do this bro: D It is necessary to take precautions earlier for such situations. Keeping some cash or storing extra battery etc. However, there is nothing to do if electricity suddenly goes out all over the world: D In such a situation, the world would be like a place of doom. What happens if electricity suddenly goes out all over the world? If you dont have any idea then you should watch this series

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2070791/?ref_=vp_back



İmage source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemon_battery

Nice share,  I think OP has not enough time to explore asking Internet about the options that's why he make this a Big deal while the truth is there are tons of options we can use to solve His problem.

and besides most of houses now had their own Generators in readiness for a power interruptions, and even has their at least Small solar panel in their Roof for extra energy saver.

[dikistutmazsabri]

One of the most important points that bitcoin and crypto money has been criticized recently is the energy issue. They were subjected to many negative criticisms for their need to consume energy and the thought that they pollute the environment. Unfortunately, this also affects the market. I am very curious about how to overcome this problem.