🌐 Afghanistan Internet Outage Shows Power of Blockchain
The recent near-total internet outage in Afghanistan, which lasted for about 48 hours and affected approximately 13 million citizens, has highlighted a critical and often overlooked weakness in the world of crypto and blockchain. While blockchain technology promises a censorship-resistant and public network for value transfers, its dependence on centralized internet service providers (ISPs) makes it incredibly vulnerable to government intervention or simple technical failures.
The disruption was reportedly ordered by the Taliban administration, although officials later cited "technical issues" with fiber optic cables. Regardless of the exact cause, the outcome was the same: the very promise of financial and communication freedom that blockchain offers collapsed instantly when the fundamental internet connection was severed. Industry leaders like Michail Angelov, co-founder of Roam Network, stressed that the blackout is a "wake-up call." He argues that "When connectivity is monopolized by a handful of centralized providers, the promise of blockchain can collapse overnight," demonstrating that if decentralization stops at the protocol layer, the core problem of control hasn't been solved.
This event strongly reinforces the need for DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network) projects. These are emerging decentralized connectivity solutions designed to eliminate single points of failure. Networks like World Mobile and Helium incentivize users to host hotspots or measure signal strength by rewarding them with tokens, effectively crowdsourcing the creation of a decentralized wireless network. DePIN projects allow communities to build infrastructure from the bottom up, ensuring that users have alternative connection methods, such as peer-powered local networks, even when the "centralized backbones fail." For the blockchain's core value proposition to be fully realized, investment and development in DePIN are essential to decentralize the very infrastructure it relies upon.
What does this incident teach us? As a crypto investor focused on fundamentals and longevity, we must recognize that our capital should flow into projects that not only decentralize transactions but also decentralize infrastructure. The Afghanistan blackout proves that blockchain cannot be truly censorship-resistant if the internet remains centralized. DePIN is therefore not just a fleeting trend; it is the essential missing piece of Web3 that long-term investors should not ignore, as it provides the core resilience that allows crypto to function even during a crisis.
