Payments collapse, banks close and effective queen

A great magnitude blackout is affecting a good part of Spain on Monday. From 12:32 of noon (local time), thousands of users have reported interruptions in the electrical service. Given this situation, many businesses have chosen to close their doors, while others have found an alternative to continue operating. As for banks, numerous ATMs are out of service and only some entities keep their digital channels active – both on the web and in mobile applications – also guaranteeing the operation of cards and point of sale terminals (TPV).

According to local media, supermarket chains as a day have chosen to close their establishments, keeping their warehouses for essential operations. Carrefour, meanwhile, has left its largest premises open, while the operation of small stores depends on each particular case; It has also been reported that, in modest business of essential products, Rows of customers are started to acquire articles such as bottles of mineral water, flashlights and batteries.

Although some newspapers have published that the electric service has been restored in certain areas of northern and southern Spain, the blackout has also affected several regions of Portugal and France. As expected, trains, roads, airports and schools have been impacted, so the authorities have recommended the population to limit their displacements and use mobile phones in moderation. In some locations, Certain shops have managed to stay operational by accepting only cash paymentswhile some restaurants have continued to function thanks to the use of gas kitchens, which do not depend on electricity.

Unlike traditional banking and payment systems, which have been affected by the blackout, Bitcoin does not depend on a centralized infrastructure in a specific place, so Your network continues to operate normally and confirm transactions. Thus, energy crises do not prevent some people from making payments using BTC instead of cash or bank transfers. This situation highlights the importance of having forms of money that do not depend on intermediaries.

The case of Spain reminds to some extent to situations that are frequently lived in Venezuela, a country that in recent years has faced recurrent energy crises due to the deterioration of its electrical infrastructure. There, the blackouts have been a catalyst for the adoption of Bitcoin. For example, in March 2019, the Caribbean country suffered a national blackout that left 23 of its 24 states without electricity, affecting hospitals, shops and banking systems. This event caused an economic paralysis, with ATMs out of service and banks unable to process electronic transactions. In that context, BTC emerged as a viable alternative for those who had digital wallets and sporadic access to the Internet.

Similarly, Ukraine has resorted to Bitcoin as a key financial tool during the war with Russiaa conflict that has devastated its electrical infrastructure since 2022. Russian attacks on power plants and distribution networks have caused mass blackouts, especially in cities such as kyiv and Járkov, leaving millions of people without access to electricity and seriously affecting banking systems. Following this, the creation of Satoshi Nakamoto has allowed thousands of Ukrainians to make transactions and receive international donations, helping them to collect more than USD 100 million in for humanitarian and military efforts until 2024, according to Chainysis.

The massive blackouts such as the one that affects Spain shows the fragility of life infrastructure to unforeseen events. While cash takes prominence in crisis situations, it is important to remember that these episodes are, by nature, sporadic. Instead, Bitcoin has proven to be a resilient financial alternative for those who think in the long term and seek solutions that operate outside the centralized systems.

You can use Bitcoin without the Internet

Although the BTC network requires an Internet connection at some point to confirm and disseminate transactions – since it operates on the TCP/IP protocol – and depends on rapid communication between nodes to keep the updated record, This does not mean that it is impossible to use Bitcoin while offline.

In fact, There are several emerging technologies that allow using BTC without Internet connectionalthough they are not yet widespread. In 2018, Blockstream enabled the use of satellite nodes for Bitcoin and, in 2023, a user developed a bridge between Bitcoin Core and the Lora radios of Meshtastic, opening new options for transactions.

These technologies take advantage of radio frequencies to send and receive payments, allowing users to connect to the BTC network without depending on traditional communication infrastructure. We invite you to learn more details in the complete guide we have prepared in cryptootics.