Iberian Blackout Exposes Crypto’s Vulnerability to Power Failures

A massive power outage across Spain and Portugal last week disrupted digital financial services, including cryptocurrency transactions. The blackout, which lasted 18 hours and affected parts of France and Morocco, saw Spain lose 60% of its national electricity demand in seconds.

Blockchain networks faced unexpected stress testing as internet and power failures rendered digital wallets, exchanges, and decentralized applications inaccessible. Industry experts from CertiK, Brickken, Wanchain, and Money on Chain warn such events could undermine public trust in crypto’s reliability as a 24/7 financial system.

The incident highlights a critical infrastructure challenge for blockchain projects: maintaining operations during centralized grid failures. Unlike traditional finance with physical fallbacks, crypto’s digital-only nature makes it uniquely vulnerable to regional power disruptions.