When Bitcoin (BTC) was birth, one of its main purpose was to get a currency that could not be controlled by a central authority, particularly dictatorial governments. But being more of a currency of the internet, it sorts of remained vulnerable to government control, after all, the government controls the internet. This has led a number of crypto-enthusiasts into exploring ways in which Bitcoin transactions can be executed without the need for the internet, and as reported in a Medium post of 14th February, 2019, Bitcoin was successfully sent via high-frequency shortwave radio – this shows the growing independence of crypto from the internet.
The news came to light when an anonymous cryptocurrency enthusiast based somewhere in Eastern Europe received Bitcoin payment via the lightning network to broadcast messages using block stream satellite in space.
The Experiment
Radolfo Novak, founder of CoinKite tweeted about how they first thought that the experiment had failed since the recipient took almost a whole day to confirm receipt of the transfer. It was a relief when the confirmation finally came through via a Software-Defined Radio (SDR) which is similar to a computer with a radio’s capacity and an antenna for responding.
The recipient used JS8Call App in making the receipt confirmation – JS8Call App is designed to send text through radio frequency and a configured brain-wallet.
After the initial experiment of using radio waves to execute a Bitcoin transaction, the BTC was sent to some other radio operators to prove that the process works. Novak’s Tweet reads:
In an official Medium post, the experiment started when Novak asked if anyone would like to receive BTC via WSPR/FT8 (amateur radio). Not long after did the would-be recipient respond using JS8Call application and Novak executed the transaction successfully.
This breakthrough is remarkable because it means that even when internet or satellite services are cut off in a country with a rogue government, Bitcoin users can still stay connected to the Blockchain and execute transactions all the same.
Notable crypto people like Nick Szabo have not been able to hide their excitement with this development as he tweeted that:
