What happens if the Internet goes down?

A major solar storm could totally knock out all communications and power! Crazy to think about, right?

But what would happen to Bitcoin if that goes down? The network wouldn't just stop instantly; some nodes would go offline before others.

Exactly, and when the dust settles, people would want to get Bitcoin running again, but not everyone's got the same blockchain copy.

Right, so any node with the longest chain gets to be the valid one. But how do you know they aren't up to something shady?

That’s where the hash of the previous block comes in. Connectivity’s tight, and it’s designed to prevent tampering.

I doubt a full shutdown is even possible. The world relies too much on the internet and power. Miners might just face high electricity costs instead.

Lol, sure, but a signature wouldn’t solve a total shutdown. You'd still have to find the right chain after everything's back.

Actually, it’s about the chain with the most accumulated work, not just the longest chain. There's a big difference!

True, and if miners played fair, the longest chain usually has the most work. But length isn't everything.

Maintaining that would cost a lot, especially if the blackout is short. Offline nodes will just sync to the last legit blocks once back.

In a massive shutdown, we should have a 'day zero.' Bitcoin should stop until everything’s back to avoid chaos.

I’m not a coder, but it doesn't seem impossible to have a secret ID inside Bitcoin to help secure things.

Google says undersea cables are mostly safe from solar storms. But the attack possibilities are still limited.

Start by explaining the solar storm impact better. I think only the grid in some places would go down, and Bitcoin would survive.

If everything crashes, BTC might be worthless. No internet means everything changes, and Bitcoin doesn't matter then.

Remember the 60s? No internet, and we still flew to the moon.

But back then, systems didn’t rely on the internet. Now, everything’s tied to it.

Yup, without power, Bitcoin's useless. Even if some systems work, priority will go to important comms first.

Solar storms can wipe out power. The Carrington Event was a warning. Who knows what larger storms could do.

Interesting to read all this. I think how much of the world is disconnected and for how long matters.