Could a nuclear war eliminate crypto? AI predicts Bitcoin’s fate in doomsday situation

The post Could a nuclear war kill crypto? AI forecasts Bitcoin’s fate in an end-of-the-world scenario appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. BTC’s price could crash 10%-80% if nuclear war intensifies from local to continent-wide. When only 1000 nodes remain active, the Bitcoin network would be seriously degraded. Bitcoin [BTC] has a spiritual following, especially for those who believe it’s a hedge against inflation and political instability, like the ongoing Israel-Iran war. What if it fractures in a nuclear doomsday? Numerous wealthy individuals, like Mexico’s richest man, Ricardo Salinas, and leaders like U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance, have embraced BTC and crypto as a hedge. In fact, BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, pitches BTC as a hedge equivalent or better than gold. Nevertheless, AI predicts that the digital gold may not survive a nuclear armageddon.

Bitcoin network vs. nuclear war

For starters, it is crucial to understand the Bitcoin network, miners who secure it, and nodes that run the protocol to ensure transaction reliability. As of mid-2025, the network has 22,129 accessible nodes (including mining nodes) spread across the globe. According to official and public data, the U.S. controls 10.2% of BTC nodes, followed by Germany (5.8%) and France (2.6%). All the top three are nuclear powers, while China, per official data, owns only 0.15%. Nearly 64% of nodes remain unaccounted for or unknown. Per ChatGPT, China may be controlling most of these ‘unidentified’ nodes, as most of their operators opted for VPNs and went underground after the state banned BTC mining in 2021.

Unraveling scenarios

In a major conflict wiping out 60-80% of the internet, Bitcoin active nodes could drop from the current 22K to 1K, leading to transaction failure, along with the proof of work (PoW) consensus. Most of the U.S. and Germany nodes would be offline for a typical war, like between Russia and NATO, per ChatGPT forecasts. However, P2P connections might be restored in weeks. A global nuclear escalation would push the network into a ‘critical failure state,’ and the consensus mechanism would cease.

For a localized attack, the network would remain stable, and the price could dip about 10%-30%. In contrast, in a local nuclear war, BTC price would crash 30%-60%, implying a potential drop to $75K-$42K as many nodes go offline. In a continent-wide devastation scenario (2-3 powers wiped out), ChatGPT projected a 60-80% decline. That would be a free fall to $42K-$20K. If Bitcoin rallies and surpasses $100K, this could be a significant discount for survivors. With only 1000 nodes online, there is a risk of a process split or fork. Without internet access as a survivor, concerns would likely shift to food and shelter in a post-apocalyptic world. BTC would cease to exist as a market asset and potentially plummet to zero.

Overall, BTC could become obsolete if nuclear warheads destroy the internet and nodes. ChatGPT highlighted that survival would be possible only if there is a backup in satellites with enough running nodes to maintain decentralization and security before full re-connection later on. As of June 2025, there was only an 18% chance of a nuclear detonation in 2025. It might be premature to associate your nuclear war worries with BTC.