Bitcoins in Space: BitSat to Protect Bitcoin’s Future in Orbit
One of the biggest misconceptions is Bitcoin is somehow not secure. Critics will point out that exchange failures are some inherent weaknesses in Bitcoin, and that it cannot be trusted as currency. Advocates point out that Bitcoin theft is very low when people manage their own Bitcoins, as creator Satoshi Nakamoto intended. Now, true innovation is taking Bitcoin into an orbit near you.
BitSat can handle Bitcoin’s Block Chain in Space
BitSat is the brainchild of Jeff Garzik, founder of Dunvegan Space Systems that will enhance Bitcoin’s transactional security, plus the digital currencies own existence far into the future. Hard to be more secure than several miles above the Earth. With Bitsat, you can always have a Bitcoin node in space, just in case of any ground-based EMP attacks on computer systems on Earth, global computer viruses, or a nefarious third-party attacks the Internet or the Block Chain directly. With the FCC looking to co-opt the Internet into something the U.S. Government can micro-manage, without any real jurisdiction, the Internet’s future of freedom is less secure than ever before. This creates an insurance policy against “bad actors”, no matter where they come from on this planet. Garzik spoke to Vice Magazine about his plans for BitSat.
“The way the bitcoin algorithm works, if 99 out of 100 connections to your [ground-based bitcoin machine] are malicious, that one honest connection will be discovered and honest data chosen over others,” Garzik said to VICE News. With small satellites holding computers in space, under the worst case scenario “bitcoin miners, payment processors, and other high-value sites will find value from having a guaranteed backup if the internet to their site is interrupted or under attack.”
Also read: BitGO’s Bitcoin Wallet Now Backed by World-Class Insurance
Bitcoin transactions have proven secure, as that is its encrypted core design trait, secure peer-to-peer transactions. The problems come from those who try to use or govern the technology, from exchanges, to governments, to the Internet itself. And people are not very good at protecting digital items. We’ve only been doing it for about 50 years, versus thousands of years protecting physical items, and we could be a lot better at it. There are weaknesses in all of these links in the chain that threaten Bitcoin, and where a BitSat can provide an out-of-this-world protected Bitcoin node for any emergencies which may come up. You can never be too careful with your Bitcoin, and someone with an anti-Bitcoin agenda coming from outer space is unlikely.
Another benefit of BitSat is the increased ability to send Bitcoin to remote locations in the Third World. There are still many places worldwide where the Internet and cellular phone service may not be available. With BitSat, those who live way off the grid can still have their Bitcoin. With a large satellite dish, a USB cable and some other equipment, you are fully connected to BitSat and the Bitcoin network. If all else fails, you can have a BitSat transaction node looking out for your Bitcoin. Increased security, an emergency backup node, and better access for people the world over. Sounds like a plan fit for a state-of-the-art digital currency.
This program is set to start next year, and a single BitSat launch only cost one million US Dollars (Twenty years ago, it was probably 100 times that much to launch a satellite). Bitsats are optimized for Bitcoin, the Block Chain, and other digital currencies, but can be configured for clients who need it for other Internet applications.
Think of it as a future GPS system designed for the Bitcoin’s future. If the Internet goes down, for an hour or a month, your secure backup is amongst the stars.
Photos provided by Wikimedia Commons and Shutterstock. Vice News contributed to this article.
