Ethereum Co-Founder Declares DApps the Ultimate Solution to Cloudflare Outages

When a single point of failure takes down half the internet, the crypto crowd doesn't just see chaos—they see opportunity. The recent Cloudflare outage, which crippled countless centralized web services, has sparked a fierce debate about digital infrastructure's fragile backbone.

The Decentralized Alternative

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin didn't mince words in the aftermath. His argument cuts straight to the core: decentralized applications (DApps), built on blockchain networks like Ethereum, bypass the traditional server-client model entirely. No central server means no single company to fail, no single data center to crash. It's a network of thousands of nodes, each holding a copy of the application's state and logic. If one—or even a hundred—go offline, the app keeps running. It's the architectural antithesis to the Cloudflare model that just buckled under pressure.

Beyond the Hype Cycle

This isn't just theoretical posturing. The outage exposed a critical vulnerability in our reliance on 'web2' infrastructure giants. Proponents argue that DApps represent a fundamental shift—from renting compute power from a corporate landlord to owning a piece of the global, unstoppable computer. The trade-off, of course, is speed and cost for resilience and censorship resistance. But in a world where a five-minute downtime can vaporize millions in market cap—talk about a costly single point of failure—the calculus might be changing.

The finance sector's reaction was predictably schizophrenic: analysts issued dire warnings about systemic tech risk while traders frantically bought the dip on any crypto ticker with 'web3' in its bio. The old guard scrambles to patch centralized systems; the crypto-native build a parallel, decentralized one. The next time the cloud fails, they might just be the only ones left online.

Individuals raise concerns about recent outages

The Cloudflare outage, which occurred on November 18, had a massive impact on the ecosystem. Reports from sources stated that the outage, which resulted from a software failure, impacted about 20% of the global network and the security company’s websites.

The firm released a report explaining the event. In this report, Cloudflare disclosed that a “feature file” in its bot management system surpassed its designated limit during a cyberattack response. Consequently, the operations of several cryptocurrency platforms were significantly impacted.

Another significant outage struck on October 20, 2025. It took place in Amazon Web Services (AWS). At this point, given the frequency of outages and their impact on the ecosystem, many firms became skeptical about the reliability of centralized internet services.

To illustrate the intense nature of the situation, websites such as Coinbase, Blockchain.com, BitMEX, and Ledger experienced outages, primarily caused by third-party technical issues, which led to their offline status.

In a manifesto released on November 11, 2025, Buterin, together with Ethereum Foundation researchers Yoav Weiss and Marissa Posner, stated that, “Decentralization does not fade away through capture but rather through convenience,” adding that, “ it drifts—automatically and continuously—toward reliance on trust.”

Meanwhile, it is worth noting that Ethereum’s co-founder frequently shares his perspective on the crypto industry and technology on social media platforms, via his blog, and other outlets. 

Concerning his recently shared idea, sources highlighted that Buterin proposed in early December that the crypto market requires a reliable on-chain gas futures market, which will enable users to be aware of what to expect regarding blockchain transaction fees.

Cloudflare encounters a significant outage

Apart from the November incident, Cloudflare experienced another outage on December 5. Reports noted that this situation was made public after users worldwide reported difficulties in accessing Cloudflare’s services. This announcement sparked concerns among individuals and raised complaints, mainly on the social media platform X.

Some of the websites impacted by this incident included online platforms such as Canva and Downdetector, as well as trading platforms like Groww and Zerodha. However, after some time, Zerodha reported that its Kite services were completely restored.

The restoration was made public after an executive from Zerodha pointed out that the Cloudflare worldwide outage had been resolved and that Kite services were completely restored. With this news, the executive urged its users to continue their trading activities as normal and apologized for any inconvenience caused.

In a statement, Cloudflare mentioned that it had resolved the problem with its dashboard related to Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). Even with this assertion, analysts advised users to practice caution. Notably, about 4.5% of shares declined in premarket trading due to the outage.

Meanwhile, regarding Cloudflare’s November outage, sources revealed that the firm encountered a disruption that temporarily impacted several online services, including ChatGPT, Spotify, and US President Donald Trump’s Truth Social platform. 

These two outages demonstrated that Cloudflare plays a crucial role in internet infrastructure by providing its users with services that safeguard websites from cyberattacks and help keep them easily accessible during times of high traffic.

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