Researchers at Cambridge University evaluated decade-long data and real incidents, concluding that the Bitcoin network endures extreme subsea cable failures.

Scope and main finding

The study analysed 11 years of records and 68 documented cable breaks and found the network could survive the loss of 72% of global undersea internet cables without collapsing.

Operational impact on nodes and price correlation

In 87% of observed incidents fewer than 5% of visible nodes went offline, and the statistical correlation with Bitcoin price was reported as -0.02, indicating negligible immediate market linkage.

Concentration risks in hosting infrastructure

The authors highlight a distinct infrastructural vulnerability: targeted disruption of a few major hosting providers could severely affect network visibility and access.

• Identified critical providers: Hetzner, OVHcloud, Comcast, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud.
• The report states that attacks on these five operators could disable up to 95% of visible clearnet nodes, despite them representing roughly 5% of total hashrate.

Adaptive responses in the ecosystem

As a defensive reaction, the share of nodes routed through Tor rose substantially, and decentralised connection methods have increased resilience against censorship and physical disruptions.

Specifically, the proportion of nodes using Tor reached 63% by 01.03.2026, creating an added layer of resistance to targeted takedowns.

Other mitigation efforts and security focus

Complementary projects include proposals for off‑world mining and satellite-based deployments; one startup, Starcloud, aims to launch ASIC miners on a satellite by year end.

With under 1 million BTC remaining to be mined, the report notes that network security concerns are shifting from issuance to the durability of node topology and connectivity.

The study provides empirical evidence that physical cable failures alone pose limited systemic risk, while centralisation in hosting services remains the principal practical threat to network availability.