Bitrabo Editorial
Edward Snowden recently voiced his backing for Bitcoin (BTC) following a significant market interruption that led to a 99% drop in Berkshire Hathaway shares due to a technical issue on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The incident sparked debates about the reliability of traditional financial systems versus decentralized alternatives.
Bitcoin’s Solution
A technical glitch on the NYSE caused extreme price fluctuations in various securities, resulting in a temporary trading suspension. The glitch was rectified around two hours after trading was halted.
During the disruption, shares of Berkshire Hathaway and Barrick Gold experienced erroneous declines of nearly 99% in value. For instance, Berkshire Hathaway shares, which normally trade at over $622,000, briefly plummeted to $185 before being corrected.
The NYSE attributed the chaos to “technical difficulties” with the limit-up/limit-down mechanisms put in place to control significant price swings. These mechanisms were implemented after the 2010 flash crash to prevent massive market value losses caused by rapid computer algorithm-driven selling. The operator of the NYSE found no evidence of a cyberattack.
In response to the event, Edward Snowden tweeted, “Bitcoin fixes this,” emphasizing his belief in decentralized financial systems over traditional exchanges.
Bitcoin functions as a decentralized digital currency operating on a peer-to-peer network without centralized control, unlike conventional stock exchanges. This decentralized structure aims to ensure transparency, immutability, and security, reducing the risk of catastrophic failures like the recent NYSE glitch due to technical glitches or centralized errors.
Snowden’s support for Bitcoin underscores the cryptocurrency’s resilience against vulnerabilities in traditional financial systems. By stating that “Bitcoin fixes this,” Snowden suggests that BTC’s decentralized nature could help prevent similar disruptions in the financial sector, offering a more dependable alternative to traditional trading platforms.
Bitcoin has maintained an uptime of 99.989% since its inception, showcasing the reliability of its blockchain technology. While there were two early incidents – the 2010 “value overflow incident” and the 2013 blockchain fork – both were promptly resolved by core developers, demonstrating Bitcoin’s strength.
Currently, BTC is trading at $69,047.