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On July 19, members of the crypto community took to social media to celebrate the resilience of blockchain networks amid one of the largest information technology outages in history. While courts, healthcare providers, airlines, and essential services faced shutdowns, Bitcoin and Ethereum continued to operate without disruption.
Former Bitcoin Core and Linux kernel developer Jeff Garzik highlighted the stark contrast between the widespread central service outages and the smooth operation of blockchain networks. On social media, he noted, "Global IT outage: Linux, Bitcoin, and Ethereum unaffected."
Jameson Lopp, co-founder of Bitcoin multisignature wallet service Casa, emphasized the importance of manual updates for Bitcoin node software to mitigate systemic risks posed by automatic updates during massive infrastructure failures.
Senator Cynthia Lummis, a vocal advocate for cryptocurrencies, pointed out that blockchains remained operational while other forms of currency faltered. She emphasized the strength of decentralized validator nodes with the phrase "Vires in Numeris," Latin for "Strength in Numbers."
Discussing the technical aspects, some community members underscored the advantage of blockchains running on multiple operating systems, contrasting them with the single-point vulnerabilities of systems like Windows. Dr. Calle, developer of the Bitcoin wallet Cashu, referenced Bitcoin founder Satoshi Nakamoto's original arguments against a Linux client, sparking a debate among developers on social media.
The outage, attributed to a flawed automatic update of CrowdStrike on Windows devices, disrupted businesses globally but left Mac and Linux versions unaffected, according to a Forbes report. CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz assured ongoing efforts to resolve the issue swiftly and restore affected services.
As discussions continue within the crypto community, the incident serves as a testament to the robustness of blockchain technology amidst broader systemic challenges in the digital landscape.
