Cambridge: Bitcoin can survive 72% subsea cable loss but is weak to hosting attacks

The Bitcoin network could survive the simultaneous failure of 72% to 92% of the world's subsea cables, according to an analysis of 11 years of network data by the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance. The study found the network is highly resilient to random accidents, noting that past large-scale outages impacted only 0.03% of global nodes. However, the network is vulnerable to targeted attacks on specific hosting providers or key points. An attack on the top five hosting companies—Hetzner, Amazon, and Google—could paralyze the network by eliminating just 5% of its capacity. The study also noted that the 64% of nodes using the TOR anonymity network paradoxically increase physical resilience due to Europe's dense network infrastructure.