Gotenna launches Bitcoin wallet that works without internet

Brazilian brothers Daniela and Jorge Perdomo, is partnering with Samourai Wallet to launch an Android application this summer that allows users to send Bitcoin payments without an Internet connection. The txTenna application, announced on Monday, will allow users to synchronize their mobile devices with a GoTenna device, which costs 179 USD per pair, to then toggle the configuration of the wallet application to perform offline transactions and send the Bitcoin.

"You need to be able to spend your Bitcoin even in disaster areas," GoNenna engineer Richard Meyers told CoinDesk, citing recent work by the Perdomo brothers in Puerto Rico, where GoTenna devices helped people reconnect after Hurricane Maria. "As long as you have a way to charge your phone, you can stay in touch and communicate."

The signal must be within approximately one mile of another goTenna device to relay the message through the mesh network, a system of decades of Internet use without Wi-Fi or landline. So far, goTenna has sold more than 100,000 devices that allow users to access the mesh network.