Bitcoiners Building Mesh Networks In Ukraine

The below is a direct excerpt of Marty’s Bent Issue #1177: “Pressure forcing alternative transaction relay solutions.” Sign up for the newsletter here.

When the going gets tough, the tough get going. Despite the fact that most of the mainstream corporate press, academic economists, and opportunistic politicians would like the world to believe bitcoiners are nothing more than speculators looking to get rick quick there are countless examples that bicoiners are some of the most resourceful people I have ever come across in my life. This week is providing a great example of this resourcefulness playing out in the wild.

As the war in Ukraine continues the Internet is proving to be less reliable than usual with major disruptions preventing individuals from accessing key services. One of which being the ability to broadcast and receive bitcoin transactions. This has incited action from builders in the bitcoin community to begin erecting mesh networks that allow individuals to relay and receive transactions and other types of communication over a mesh network that isn’t wholly dependent on the Internet. We’ve covered mesh networks and their importance extensively in this rag throughout the years.

To date, most of the coverage has been about the potential of mesh networks and highlights of people sending one off transactions over mesh networks to show that it works. What the bitcoin community is building in Ukraine is particularly interesting because it is the first instance of a mesh network being built out of pure necessity that I have come across throughout my time covering the space. I am hopeful that the mesh network will be successfully spun up and utilized by individuals looking to send messages to the bitcoin network and other networks. If this initiative succeeds it could provide us with a blue print for replicating it across the world. Creating the potential to make digital communications more robust than they have ever been. At the very least, it will provide us with many lessons on the hurdles of spinning up a mesh network and getting people to use it.

Here’s to the builders. They’re making the world a better place.