A Nuclear War Would Not Kill Bitcoin, Claims Crypto Pioneer

Crypto pioneer and convicted felon Charlie Shrem believes that Bitcoin is “the most durable currency for a nuclear war,” according to a post he wrote. “If the unthinkable happens, Bitcoin would be a highly durable currency during nuclear war, as compared to fiat currency, which would fail for multiple reasons,” he added. However not everyone is convinced by this analysis.

The controversial Bitcoin evangelist, who was sentenced to two years in prison for aiding and abetting the operation of an unlicensed money-transmitting business related to the dark web Silk Road marketplace, says nuclear warheads would decimate centralized banking organizations and render them useless. As a result, online bank balances would become meaningless once banks and computers get destroyed.

But Bitcoin would certainly survive such an ordeal: “As long as there is at least one node running Bitcoin, the Bitcoin network will continue to function. It is highly likely that many Bitcoin nodes would survive even the worst nuclear attack since nodes are scattered worldwide, and they could communicate with each other via satellite internet.”

Not only is Bitcoin “uniquely suited” to survive a nuclear war, but it would also thrive in those adversarial conditions. “Even in a small nuclear war the ensuing calamity could cause fiats to hyperinflate, as governments print tremendous amounts of cash to fund the war while economies simultaneously slow, and investors crash the stock market out of fear since they will be selling their stocks for the cash they need to survive. Bitcoin is completely decentralized, and a more durable type of money than fiat during nuclear war as explained above, so as hyperinflation devalues fiat worldwide, people would be buying Bitcoin and Bitcoin’s price would likely rise rapidly.”