Recent advances in the field of long-term storage could form the basis for the development of immutable digital ledgers capable of storing data for millions of years without power. In other words: immortal blockchains.

At its core, blockchain technology operates on the simple premise that data is demonstrably safer in a decentralized ledger than it is on a centralized server.

In the event of a local outage, such as the failure of a power grid, the ledger remains safe as long as there are nodes elsewhere still in operation. A centralized server can only store and serve data for as long as it’s powered.

Total catastrophe

We don’t really need to worry about the power going out and, for example, our banking information getting lost. Modern computer systems typically run on battery backups capable of ensuring data is kept for months or even years if necessary.

But, much like the threat of quantum computing looms over modern encryption, there are conceivable future threats to both decentralized and centralized data storage systems.

One such theoretical threat would be a global blackout. Even with robust battery backup systems, a natural disaster affecting the Earth’s magnetic field or some form of externally-induced electromagnetic pulse could conceivably cause the electronics on our planet to cease functioning.

That may sound like Hollywood fodder, but it’s unlikely many governments have contingency plans for secondary non-critical systems such as the Bitcoin and Ethereum blockchains in the event the Earth’s poles flip (unlikely) or Aliens zap us with an EMP ray (also, probably unlikely).

This begs the question: what happens to blockchains if the power goes out on every node? If we imagine a scenario where the power comes back on and everything resumes normal operations, it stands to reason the average blockchain would continue recording further transactions. But what if the power goes out forever?

Immortal blockchains

In the event that humans were to become extinct — for whatever reason — most of our data would die with us. Over a matter of centuries, brittle storage such as books and magnetic tapes would degrade to the point of meaninglessness. After millenia, the bulk of our digital storage would likely be irretrievable. And, if we can imagine the Earth spinning cold and alone for millions of years before it rebooted and began seeding life again (or aliens showed up) then only data held in extreme long-term storage solutions would still exist.

Luckily for those future humans and/or aliens, we already have the technology to preserve data for extremely long periods of time. Two examples include DNA storage, which involves the creation of artificial fossils encoded with data, and “Ceramic Nano Memory,” a method for storing data on glass that, theoretically, allows it to remain encoded forever without the possibility of degrading.

While neither are specifically designed to function as components of a blockchain network, both have been used to store important data for posterity.

In this vein, it would make sense to put the Bitcoin white paper and other important documents in an artificial fossil and/or ceramic nano memory shard. At a bare minimum, this would give future beings a glimpse into our technology.

However, it should also be possible to use zero energy storage to build a snapshot of a functioning blockchain. While the logistics of such an endeavor would be subject to the limitations of the medium, it should be feasible, theoretically, to encode instructions for the resurrection of a blockchain network as it existed on a specific date.