In 2018, Blockstream made it free to use satellite-based Bitcoin nodes. In 2023, a user created a Bitcoin Core bridge with Meshtastic LoRa radios. The technologies that allow transactions with bitcoin outside the internet are not yet fully widespread, but they already exist and have demonstrated their real viability. Especially radio communication, which allows the transmission of audio and text messages using electromagnetic waves. Several projects that proposed these technologies disappeared. Others are not dedicated only to bitcoin but can be used to transfer coins over the network, although this requires the user's willingness to configure and adapt the equipment and transmit the crypto asset offline. The technology that allows you to send bitcoin without the internet, although unusual and not yet widespread, is useful for financial freedom. Its practical application allows you to communicate with the Bitcoin blockchain in exceptional and risky situations. For this reason it is important that you know them.
Table of contents
These technologies They guarantee that people can maintain their freedom of communication and economic freedom.. Even in the face of censorship by internet service providers or more serious government restrictions. Although theoretically useful for resisting censorship, they are currently more widely used as alternative means of communication in the absence of internet and connection channels. Especially in rural areas that do not have these services. The contribution of these methods is invaluable in the face of natural emergencies or wars, and they should be seen almost as a human right.
Blockstream and GoTenna Satellite Transactions
One of these applications was made possible by Blockstream, a company led by cryptographer Adam Back. He created, together with the company GoTenna in 2019, an alternative channel for satellite transactions with bitcoin. GoTenna is a distributed communications networking company that creates encrypted communication technologies and devices outside the Internet. As reported by BitcoinDynamic, this alliance between Blockstream and GoTenna provides the possibility of sharing bitcoin transactions from a full node contained in a satellite and distributed through a local mesh network. This network is decentralized, non-hierarchical and It does not depend on Internet or mobile phone service providers.
GoTenna device for special operations. Source: gotennapro.com According to GoTenna, the collaboration allows “transferring bitcoins over longer distances through the TxTenna tool without an Internet connection. All they need is to have a satellite receiver with the specific Blockstream Satellite software installed on their devices.” txTenna is an Android application created by GoTenna together with Samourai Wallet. This application allows transactions to be transmitted to the Bitcoin network via text messages (SMS). It requires using a txTenna device, which works as a repeater, and your own mobile number to send SMS or as a mesh node to relay transactions from other participants. Although launched in New York, the decentralized applications engineer at GoTenna, Richard Myers, commented at the time that this technology is very useful “in other parts of the world.” At the time of writing, use of Blockstream satellites is free and accessible to anyone with a GoTenna repeater. According to the World Economic Forum, GoTenna devices are used by more than 100,000 customers worldwide. Anyone can purchase these devices, configure them, and connect to Blockstream satellite from anywhere in the world.
Bridge between Bitcoin Core and Meshtastic
Meshtastic devices are used to communicate in areas without internet infrastructure. Source: meshtastic.org A more recent finding inspired by the invention of Blockstream and GoTenna is the bridge between Bitcoin Core and Meshtastic devices. According to its website, Meshtastic is an open source mesh networking project “that enables low-cost LoRa radios to be used as a long-range, off-grid communication platform in areas without existing or reliable communications infrastructure.” BTCtoolshed, a Bitcoin developer, found a way to send unsigned transactions for transmission over LoRa using Meshtastic. This clarifies that it is possible, although it requires a Python string constructor and some basic knowledge of this programming language. According to the developer, receiving and transmitting a transaction between Meshtastic radios requires: a computer running Bitcoin Core. a Meshtastic device connected via serial USB to the same computer. another Meshtastic device(s). Taking advantage of this discovery depends on the user, who must purchase Meshtastic devices and program them according to BTCtoolshed's instructions. Based on these findings, an open source community project based in Costa Rica began experimenting with offline bitcoin transactions using Meshtastic devices. Specifically in the region of Uvita, a small town in the south of the country.
Meshtastic spokes allow you to sign bitcoin transactions offline. Source: X, @BitcoinJungleCR In said region, users would be creating a mesh network for free use with bitcoin anywhere on the island. This meets the need of a remote region to have an alternative route to the Internet to send and receive payments and transactions. A similar initiative with Meshtastic was carried out in Burnsville, North Carolina, in the United States. Those in charge of executing it demand the use of long-range communications in crisis areas, where access to the internet and conventional communications fail.
JS8Call, text strings over radio frequencies
Another functional means of sending bitcoins via radio frequencies in text format is the JS8Call application. An amateur radio station in Canada proved that this method, which, although it remains a proof of concept today, is usable and can help send bitcoin transactions without the internet through an antenna and satellite signals. Transmission of the transaction to the Bitcoin nodes was completed in New York City, but can be used by anyone with the right technical equipment and expertise. The transaction in question was 0.1 bitcoin using an open source wallet like Electrum.
Kryptoradio, a Finnish initiative that used digital terrestrial television
Kryptoradio is an initiative developed by Koodilehto, a discontinued project, which demonstrated that it is possible to access the Bitcoin network from anywhere using digital video broadcasting (DVB) technology. The technology used to transmit transactions to the Bitcoin network is the same as that used to transmit digital television signals, which does not depend on the Internet. DVB compatible receivers can receive these signals and decode Bitcoin data such as transactions, blocks and coin exchange data. This to propagate transactions in real time. According to the Koodilehto project, DVB was a suitable technology for its pilot project because of its flexibility: it has wide support in most parts of the world. Another initiative, this one called Locha Mesh, which disappeared in 2021 and is of Venezuelan origin, carried out range tests with its own hardware and software, called Turpial, for the transmission of bitcoin transactions outside the internet. Unfortunately, this initiative was never carried out and was considered a scam, because the developers never fully returned the money sent by donors to continue the project.
