Bitcoin vs Nuclear War: Can BTC Survive?

What happens to Bitcoin if the world goes nuclear? Will cryptocurrency survive, or will it perish with the rest of the world?

Bitcoin, the world’s first decentralized digital currency, has been making headlines for over a decade now. With its decentralized, blockchain-based structure, Bitcoin has been touted as a revolutionary technology that could change the way we think about money and financial transactions. 

The Bitcoin Blockchain

To begin, it is critical to understand the fundamentals of Bitcoin and its underlying technology, the blockchain. The blockchain is a digital ledger that records every Bitcoin transaction. Each block in the blockchain contains a record of multiple transactions, and once added to the blockchain, a block cannot be changed. This creates a permanent, tamper-proof record of every Bitcoin transaction.

Because the blockchain is decentralized, no single entity has control over it. It is instead maintained by a network of computers known as nodes, which collaborate to validate and record transactions. Bitcoin is revolutionary because it eliminates the need for a central authority to oversee financial transactions.

Bitcoin vs Nuclear War

But, in the event of a nuclear war, what happens to the blockchain and the Bitcoin it records? The short answer is that it is determined by the specifics of the event. If a nuclear war were to occur in a specific geographic region, it is possible that the nodes in that region would be destroyed, making it difficult for the blockchain to continue operating in that region.

Scope of the Attack 

The scope of a nuclear attack can vary greatly depending on the situation and the intentions of the attacker. In some cases, tactical nuclear weapons may be used in order to target specific areas or cities with devastating effects. 

This type of attack is usually limited in its scope, as it only affects those areas that are directly targeted. However, it can still have a significant impact on the region and beyond.

In other cases, an EMP-focused attack may be employed in order to cause widespread destruction across a much larger area. This type of attack involves detonating a small number of nuclear weapons at high altitudes in order to create an electromagnetic pulse that will destroy electronic equipment over a wide area. 

This type of attack can have far-reaching consequences and could potentially affect entire countries or regions if not properly contained. 

All Out War

Finally, all-out war is another possibility where both sides empty their reserves of nuclear weapons, and most primary and secondary targets within non-neutral countries are destroyed. This would obviously have catastrophic consequences for all involved parties and could lead to long-term devastation for many years to come.

Devastating Consequences

The effects of electromagnetic pulses (EMPs) are far-reaching and can have devastating consequences for electronic equipment. When a nuclear bomb is detonated, it releases an EMP that can cause significant damage to anything connected to the power grid. This includes computers, televisions, cell phones, and other electronics. 

The EMP will also affect semiconductors such as CPUs and SSDs, which are essential components in many electronic devices. Surge protectors may not provide adequate protection against an EMP, so any device connected to the power grid is likely to be destroyed.

The impact of an EMP attack is not limited to just one area; if multiple nuclear bombs were detonated in the air at strategic points around a continent, then the entire continent could be affected by the EMPs. 

This would have catastrophic consequences for any electronic equipment in the area, rendering them completely useless. Fortunately, humans are not affected by EMPs directly; however, they would still suffer from the indirect effects of having their electronics destroyed or rendered unusable.

Destruction of mining hardware

The destruction of mining hardware could have disastrous consequences for Bitcoin. If a large amount of mining hardware is destroyed, either directly or indirectly by a nuclear blast or an EMP, difficulty may become stuck at an excessively high level for an extended period of time. 

This would prevent miners from mining blocks and transactions from being processed. This could cause severe network disruption and significant economic losses.

In this case, the correct response is to hard fork to a lower difficulty. This will enable miners with less powerful hardware to continue mining blocks and ensuring that transactions are still processed. In fact, a hard fork may be necessary in order to keep Bitcoin functioning in the days, weeks (years?) following a significant nuclear attack.

Block Rewards and Cockroaches

It may also be necessary to adjust the block reward so that miners continue to be incentivized to mine even if their profits are reduced due to the lower difficulty. This allows the network to remain operational and avoid major disruptions caused by mining hardware destruction.

However, the blockchain (and lots of cockroaches) would continue to function as long as there are nodes running in other parts of the world. 

And in no way are we equating cockroaches with those who run bitcoin mining nodes!

Bitcoin After the Apocalypse

In a post-nuclear war world, Bitcoin would be far from the top of the list of priorities. With global equipment shortages and transportation shocks, it would become much more difficult to obtain fossil fuels and mine for resources, making it expensive to provide energy to anything. 

This means that only certain assets will be worth providing energy to, such as food production and medical supplies. The main concern in this situation would be securing basic necessities for survival rather than securing the Bitcoin network.

The lack of reliable power sources due to a nuclear winter or other environmental factors could also make it difficult to use Bitcoin even if people wanted to. Solar power sources may become useless due to radioactive soot being thrown into the air, meaning that other forms of energy must be used instead. This could lead to an even greater resource scarcity, as these alternative forms of energy may not be readily available or affordable in a post-nuclear war world.

Bitcoin Wins, Eventually

Decentralization is critical to the blockchain’s survival in the event of a nuclear war. Because the blockchain is distributed across a large network of nodes, it is far more resistant to attack or destruction than a centralized system. 

In fact, the blockchain’s decentralized nature makes it similar to a distributed system, where the failure of one node has no effect on the overall system.

Another factor to consider is that blockchain transactions are recorded in multiple locations, which means that if one location is destroyed, the transactions will still be recorded in other locations. This is why the blockchain is regarded as a tamper-proof and permanent record.

This feature is significant in the event of a nuclear war because it ensures that any financial transactions made with Bitcoin are recorded even if the nodes in a specific geographic area are destroyed.

Yet, because Bitcoin is a digital currency, it has no physical form. This means it is immune to the physical devastation caused by a nuclear war. It is only reliant on network infrastructure and internet access. If internet connectivity is lost in a specific area, the nodes in that area are no longer able to communicate with the rest of the network, and transactions cannot be processed.

Bottom line

As long as there are nodes and internet connections operating in other parts of the world, the blockchain will continue to function and Bitcoin will be usable as a currency.

A nuclear war would undoubtedly be catastrophic for the world, yet it is unlikely to completely destroy the Bitcoin blockchain. 

Because of the blockchain’s decentralized nature, as well as the fact that it is a digital currency, it is much more resistant to destruction than a centralized system would be. 

While the blockchain may be impacted in the specific geographic region where a nuclear war occurred, the blockchain would continue to function and Bitcoin would continue to be usable as a currency as long as there are still nodes and internet connections running in other parts of the world. 

Bitcoin has the potential to survive a nuclear war, yet other priorities and resource demands could drain the Bitcoin blockchain of all the resources it would need to function at full capacity.