Can Bitcoin Survive a Carrington Event That Knocks Out the Grid?
"In a massive solar storm, which would be extremely damaging to the infrastructure of a modern economy, parts of the blockchain may well be the only parts that survive." —Jason Potts
What is the Carrington Event?At a November 1859 meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society, British astronomer Richard Christopher Carrington reported to the eminent scientific body that "on the morning of Thursday, September 1, taking my usual observation of the shapes and positions of the sunspots, an apparition has been observed which I believe to be extremely rare.”
The phenomenon caused bright auroras around the world, some as far south as Cuba, that were so bright that observers could read newspapers by their light at night.
It was the most intense geomagnetic storm in recorded history, likely the result of a coronal mass ejection from the sun colliding with Earth's magnetosphere - and one with ominous implications for the cryptocurrency industry should it happen again today. A storm of this intensity would have the potential to affect the majority of electrical systems in use today: satellites, internet service providers, power supplies and all forms of communication.
The geomagnetic disturbances were so strong that telegraph operators in the United States reported sparks flying from their equipment, which in some cases even caught fire. Telegraph systems in Europe and North America broke down.
Similar events have been observed throughout the 20th century. In 1921, a solar storm was widely observed in and around New York in the United States. Electrical disturbances interrupted signaling and switching operations for the commuter rail system, blowing fuses and setting Grand Central Terminal's signal tower on fire. Telegraph wires creaked as communications stopped.
And in 1989, a storm knocked out power to large parts of Quebec in Canada. Scientists believe that an even more massive event than Carrington occurred in 774, called the Miyake event.
As Mississippi State University professor David Wallace wrote on Astronomy.com, the potential ramifications could be dire:
"It's only a matter of time before Earth is hit by another geomagnetic storm. A storm the size of a Carrington event would be extremely damaging to power and communications systems around the world. worldwide, with outages lasting weeks. If the storm is the size of the Miyake event, the results would be catastrophic for the world with potential outages lasting months or more."
What would happen to Bitcoin after a solar flare?From home personal computers to the internet and the birth of cryptocurrencies, an economic and technological revolution has taken place at the turn of the 21st century, one that relies entirely on an interconnected network of global communication systems.< /p>
Within these systems, traditional payment providers such as credit card companies, banks, or money transfer companies form "payment stacks": blocks of trusted, interconnected entities that process and settle electronic payment transactions.
Amazon Web Services experts have reported that much of this information is still stored on aging banking systems...
"In a massive solar storm, which would be extremely damaging to the infrastructure of a modern economy, parts of the blockchain may well be the only parts that survive." —Jason Potts
What is the Carrington Event?At a November 1859 meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society, British astronomer Richard Christopher Carrington reported to the eminent scientific body that "on the morning of Thursday, September 1, taking my usual observation of the shapes and positions of the sunspots, an apparition has been observed which I believe to be extremely rare.”
The phenomenon caused bright auroras around the world, some as far south as Cuba, that were so bright that observers could read newspapers by their light at night.
It was the most intense geomagnetic storm in recorded history, likely the result of a coronal mass ejection from the sun colliding with Earth's magnetosphere - and one with ominous implications for the cryptocurrency industry should it happen again today. A storm of this intensity would have the potential to affect the majority of electrical systems in use today: satellites, internet service providers, power supplies and all forms of communication.
The geomagnetic disturbances were so strong that telegraph operators in the United States reported sparks flying from their equipment, which in some cases even caught fire. Telegraph systems in Europe and North America broke down.
Similar events have been observed throughout the 20th century. In 1921, a solar storm was widely observed in and around New York in the United States. Electrical disturbances interrupted signaling and switching operations for the commuter rail system, blowing fuses and setting Grand Central Terminal's signal tower on fire. Telegraph wires creaked as communications stopped.
And in 1989, a storm knocked out power to large parts of Quebec in Canada. Scientists believe that an even more massive event than Carrington occurred in 774, called the Miyake event.
As Mississippi State University professor David Wallace wrote on Astronomy.com, the potential ramifications could be dire:
"It's only a matter of time before Earth is hit by another geomagnetic storm. A storm the size of a Carrington event would be extremely damaging to power and communications systems around the world. worldwide, with outages lasting weeks. If the storm is the size of the Miyake event, the results would be catastrophic for the world with potential outages lasting months or more."
What would happen to Bitcoin after a solar flare?From home personal computers to the internet and the birth of cryptocurrencies, an economic and technological revolution has taken place at the turn of the 21st century, one that relies entirely on an interconnected network of global communication systems.< /p>
Within these systems, traditional payment providers such as credit card companies, banks, or money transfer companies form "payment stacks": blocks of trusted, interconnected entities that process and settle electronic payment transactions.
Amazon Web Services experts have reported that much of this information is still stored on aging banking systems...
What's Your Reaction?
