Bitcoin Sent Through Amateur Radio 40 Meters Band

Bitcoin transmission test on 40 meters band

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radio bitcoin

Bitcoin transmission done on 7MHz using JS8Call

During  a recent experiment, has been demonstrated that is possibile to transfer Bitcoin without the use of the internet.

This has been made possible by implementing a digital data trasmission through the airwaves  using an amateur radio application named JS8Call on the amateur radio band of 40 meters, corresponding to the 7 MHz.

Why Bitcoin over Radio ?

Due to some governaments interferences that are already obstacling in some countries the cryptocurrencies diffusion, developers are constantly looking to transfer Bitcoins with alternative ways.

This is not the only experiment, and is not the only bitcoin transmission over radio. In Finland bitcoins are transferred via radio using the DVB-T network.

In the recent past there have been conducted several tests using mesh network (Mesh networks are a type of computer network where nodes communicate directly with each other, in a peer-to-peer fashion) or even via satellite, but this time it has been used a communicaton method that, by definition, does not rely on third parties:  amateur radio.

Amateur Radio HF communications, unlike commercial systems, is independent of terrestrial facilities and permit real time long distance contacts even cross-border.

The Expeiment has begun when Novak replied to a tweet asking:

“Has anyone used Ham radio to propagate Bitcoin blocks? Keen on exploring mesh networks that span across borders.”

The experiment succeeded by transmitting a bitcoin transaction fromToronto (Canada) to Michigan (USA) using the band of 7 MHz, currently allocated to the Amateur Radio Service.

bitcoin ham radio

As wallet has been used a brain wallet. Brain wallets are cryptocurrency wallets that allow users to receive virtual currencies but storing the seed phrase just in users’ heads.

Read more

Is this legal ?

ITU LogoIt’s important to remember that the usage of amateur radio equipment and frequencies is restricted to certified amateur radio operators only and  content of transmission should be related to amateur radio only as clearly stated by ITU in Article 25 Section I, on definition of amateur radio service:

“Transmissions between amateur stations of different countries shall be limited to communications incidental to the purposes of the amateur service, as defined in No. 1.56 and to remarks of a personal character”

Learn more about what is amateur radio or ham radio

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