"You see rats with wings, but I see the internet""You see rats with wings, but I see the internet"
I am here to show you yet another reason why "What if the internet goes down" is such a ridiculous question to ask. The internet is a network of networks, and networks do not have to involve computers (that's merely the most effective way we've found to create networks so far). Yes, you could even do the internet protocol over US Mail "snail mail", but today, lets look at the "IP over Avian Carriers" protocol. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IP_over_Avian_Carriers
Signing the TransactionSigning the Transaction
For this, you'll want to follow the Sparrow wallet guide for cold card: https://sparrowwallet.com/docs/coldcard-wallet.html You can generate the PBST file from Sparrow, import to cold card using the SD card and then to broadcast, you'll need to connect the SD card to a pigeon.
How Pigeon Carriers Find their WayHow Pigeon Carriers Find their Way
Whoever will be your transaction broadcaster, will need to keep the pigeon at their site from some time, feeding it and making it feel at home. When a pigeon is released, no matter where, they will return to this site where they know there is food.
Security?Security?
A signed Bitcoin transaction uses asymmetrical encryption to sign. Once signed, a new transaction using your signature can not be forged, so the only thing you're trusting your broadcaster with, is to actually broadcast your transaction.
ConclusionConclusion
As you can see, the internet is a network of networks and these networks can be crafted in a variety of ways. While not the focus of this post, it is also possible to connect to peers using the Bitcoin core client using IP over Avian Carriers, to ensure you keep track of the longest chain and give you the power to check that your transaction was in fact broadcasted.
https://tse4.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.Fp7E1WtxHEM5u1JDdzU2CwHaEq
"You can generate the PBST file from Sparrow..." So sparrow wallet is compatible with pigeon protocol? :)
This is the content I was expecting to see on SN.
I guess it's time to get a pidgeon ;)
I was writing a final chapter where the use case was broadcasting a transaction using smoke signals like in the old times. It is doable and tells a lot about the power of Bitcoin.lol
I like the idea of achieving network consensus with really, REALLY, fast birds.
Joking aside, I am pretty sure it is a requirement for consensus that all nodes in the network can consistently agree on the longest chain within the average 10 minute block time, otherwise you'd have chain re-orgs all the time.
Ideally, this would only be used for very isolated areas where the pigeon will fly to someone who has the fast internet connection (next hop is faster than the previous) If the whole world were required to use this and postal mail (because of some strange world ending event that destroys internet infrastructure and destroys radio signals but keeps mail working and pigeons and humans alive somehow) I imagine we could agree to a hard fork with like week long block times or something that makes the network actually work in that environment
I am laughing my ass off rn. I am in support of the pigeon hard fork.