Cambridge Study Finds Bitcoin Network Could Withstand Failure of 72% of Global Subsea Cables

The University of Cambridge conducted an 11-year study of the Bitcoin network, examining connectivity when physical infrastructure such as subsea cables and hosting services is disrupted. Because Bitcoin relies on nodes worldwide to jointly validate transactions, its ability to withstand widespread outages is critical to its decentralization and resilience as financial infrastructure.

The study found that 72%–92% of the world’s subsea cables would have to fail simultaneously before the Bitcoin network could be disconnected globally, while random cable failures would have a relatively limited impact. However, an attacker could severely disrupt the network by precisely targeting five hosting providers that support large numbers of nodes, posing a greater risk than broad damage to subsea cables.