One Small Step for Bitcoin – SpaceChain Secured Transfer From International Space Station

SpaceChain, the U.K. crypto firm with extraterrestrial aspirations, secured a bitcoin transfer with its multi-signature transaction hardware orbiting Earth every 90 minutes.

• SpaceChain's International Space Station-hosted (ISS) hardware authorized a 0.0099 BTC (about $92 at the time) transfer initiated by Chief Technology Officer Jeff Garzik on June 26, the decentralization company disclosed Tuesday.
• Developed by GomSpace and installed on the ISS on June 25, that hardware holds a private key needed to verify blockchain transactions via the "multi-signature" technique.
• Data can only reach the ISS via the craft's encrypted ground station links. SpaceChain says this adds security and resilience to transaction authorizations.
• Representatives did not immediately answer CoinDesk's questions as to why a transaction initiated on June 26 was only made public nearly two months later.
• Although the ISS hardware cannot communicate with other crafts, SpaceChain hopes to build and launch robust decentralized blockchain infrastructure that can do so.

Read more: A Bitcoin Wallet Is Orbiting the Earth at 5 Miles Per Second