On Saturday afternoon, a massive power outage occurred in San Francisco, leaving 130,000 households and businesses without electricity. This incident allowed residents to directly experience the fundamental vulnerabilities of technology. The outage caused by a fire at a PG&E substation blocked thousands of users from accessing digital wallets and cryptocurrency exchanges.
This incident shows that even if a decentralized blockchain network is robust, the actual use of cryptocurrency still relies on local electricity and internet infrastructure.
San Francisco Power Crisis…Scale and Impact
The blackout began around 1:09 PM, affecting about one-third of San Francisco PG&E customers. This power outage spread throughout the city, centered around the Richmond district. By 11 PM, power was restored to approximately 95,000 customers, but nearly 18,000 were still without electricity on Sunday afternoon.
The blackout disrupted city traffic, halted Waymo robot taxi operations, and forced many restaurants and shops to close. Many people were surprised by the scale of the blackout. An observer on social media stated, 'Almost 30% of the city experienced a blackout overnight. There were no storms, warnings, or clear accountability.'
Some disruptions in the blockchain network persist
This blackout reminds us of one important fact. Decentralized technology is ultimately connected to centralized infrastructure.
Cryptocurrency networks like Bitcoin and Ethereum are based on a distributed ledger maintained by thousands of nodes worldwide. Even if it occurs in a large IT hub like San Francisco, a regional blackout does not stop the blockchain itself. Transaction validation continues, blocks are added, and user assets are safely recorded on-chain.
In other words, even if the power goes out, users' cryptocurrencies do not disappear.
However, the reality is less reassuring. Without electricity and internet access, users cannot access their wallets, execute transactions, or complete payments. Stores that receive cryptocurrency face the same limitations. Without power, payment terminals cannot be used.
Mining operations require significant power continuously, so they stop immediately when a blackout occurs. If hash rate is concentrated in a specific area, a blackout in that area can temporarily slow down network validation speeds.
If a transaction was underway at the time of the blackout, the outcome depends on timing. Unconfirmed transactions remain in the memory pool and will be processed once the connection is restored. Already confirmed transactions are not altered and remain unaffected.
Coin trading 24/7 with exchange infrastructure
Major cryptocurrency exchanges have implemented various strategies to ensure trading does not stop during the blackout. According to industry analysis, exchanges are preparing multiple layers of defense systems, including uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), backup generators for long outages, and redundant data centers equipped with automatic failover protocols.
If major facilities go offline, transactions are immediately transferred to other regions that are operating normally. Data replication between data centers ensures no data loss during a crisis, maintaining the integrity of transactions.
Asset security is particularly important during a blackout. Most held assets are stored offline in cold wallets, away from network risks. Hot wallets used for trading are operated in a limited manner and are protected by multi-signature protocols and withdrawal limits. Exchanges prepare for long outages through regular training and emergency plans to continue operations.
The North American Electric Reliability Corporation has documented infrastructure standards for cryptocurrency operations. According to the white paper, cryptocurrency facilities must build complex internal infrastructure, UPS, generators, etc., to secure resilience.
These efforts highlight the gap between decentralized network design and the traditional infrastructure requirements for actual accessibility. Although blockchain can withstand regional blackouts, services that connect users require power and connectivity investments.
The paradox of hardware wallets
Security-conscious investors store assets in hardware wallets and keep private keys offline to protect against network-based attacks. This is still a wise approach. However, this blackout revealed an inconvenient truth. No matter how safe a hardware wallet is, if there is no power, users cannot access it.
The device remains safe, and assets are intact. However, if the owner is sitting in a dark room, they cannot check their balance, sign transactions, or move funds in response to market fluctuations. In infrastructure failure situations, tension arises between security and accessibility.
Backups of seed phrases stored offline ultimately guarantee asset recovery. However, they are of no help in immediate crisis situations. For cryptocurrency to become a reliable financial tool, users must prepare for situations where even the safest storage may become temporarily inaccessible.
Decentralization…is not independence
The San Francisco blackout incident highlights the tension within the core value proposition of cryptocurrency. Decentralization blocks single points of failure at the protocol level. However, end-user access entirely depends on electricity, internet connectivity, and the functioning of local infrastructure. This mirrors the dependency structure of existing digital payments.
Some projects are seeking alternatives. Blockstream's satellite network broadcasts Bitcoin blockchain data worldwide, allowing node synchronization without the existing internet. While these solutions are still limited to a few, they show the potential for infrastructure independence.
What does user meaning mean?
This incident leaves a practical lesson for cryptocurrency investors. Diversification of backup measures is important. Information about mobile hotspots, portable battery packs, and regions that may still have power is needed. When evaluating exchanges, infrastructure redundancy and disaster recovery capabilities should also be considered alongside fees and token listings.
Perhaps the most honest conclusion is this: Blockchain networks can withstand blackouts, but user access cannot. Until this gap is bridged, cryptocurrency remains a theoretically robust financial tool that, at crucial moments, is out of reach.
