Bitcoin Network Can Survive 92% of Global Submarine Cable Failures, Study Finds

TLDR: Bitcoin nodes remain connected even if 72–92% of global submarine cables fail simultaneously. Random infrastructure failures rarely disrupt more than 5% of Bitcoin nodes worldwide. Targeting high-betweenness cables can fragment Bitcoin with only 20% of total cable damage. Top hosting providers supporting Bitcoin nodes could cause network disruption with just 5% capacity loss. Bitcoin network resilience has become the focus of a major academic study examining how the network reacts to internet infrastructure failures. Researchers from the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance analyzed eleven years of node data and submarine cable outages. Random Infrastructure Failures Show Bitcoin Stability Bitcoin network resilience remains strong when infrastructure failures occur randomly across the global internet. The Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance studied data on Bitcoin nodes between 2014 and 2025. Researchers focused on submarine communication cables, which carry most international internet traffic. They tested scenarios by simulating different portions of global cable failures. The study found that between 72% and 92% of submarine cables must fail simultaneously before major fragmentation occurs. Fragmentation is defined as more than 10% of nodes losing connectivity. Cambridge University’s Centre for Alternative Finance, based on 11 years of data, shows that even if 72% to 92% of global submarine communication cables were to simultaneously fail, the Bitcoin network would not experience widespread node disconnections. However, if targeted… pic.twitter.com/unsiNNiggM — Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) March 14, 2026 Reviewing sixty‑eight real cable fault events over the past decade, the study found that most incidents produced minimal disruption. Eighty‑seven percent of the faults caused less than five percent of node disconnection. A notable case in 2024 occurred off West Africa, where several cables were severed. Regional internet connectivity suffered, y...