Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway saw its stock price suddenly plummet by 99%, with the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) blaming the incident on a "technical glitch" related to the limit up/limit down mechanism. Edward Snowden, the whistleblower of the "PRISM" surveillance scandal and a former U.S. defense contractor now in exile, claimed that Bitcoin could eliminate such issues.
Snowden reiterated his support for Bitcoin following the significant market turmoil caused by the NYSE's technical fault, which led to Berkshire Hathaway's stock dropping 99%. This event has once again sparked discussions about the robustness and reliability of traditional financial systems versus decentralized alternatives.
The NYSE's technical glitch caused significant price fluctuations and trading suspensions for multiple stocks. Trading was halted for about two hours before the NYSE reported that all systems had been restored.
Among the affected securities were Berkshire Hathaway and the major mining group Barrick Gold Corporation, both experiencing a roughly 99% decline in value.
Berkshire Hathaway's stock, typically trading above $622,000, plummeted to just $185 due to the glitch, but the erroneous pricing was later corrected.
The NYSE attributed the turmoil to a "technical glitch" in the limit up/limit down mechanisms designed to curb excessive price volatility during trading sessions.
These mechanisms were introduced after the 2010 flash crash, when a wave of computer-driven sell-offs wiped out $1 trillion in market value within minutes. Such mechanisms are crucial for maintaining market stability.
Intercontinental Exchange, the NYSE's operator, reported no indications of a hacking attack.
In response to the incident, Snowden tweeted simply, "Bitcoin fixes this."
His brief comment underscored his belief that decentralized financial systems have advantages over traditional centralized exchanges.
Bitcoinist reported that Bitcoin, a decentralized digital currency, operates on a peer-to-peer network without central authority. This structure contrasts sharply with traditional stock exchanges, whose centralized control can lead to systemic risks, as evidenced by the recent NYSE glitch. Bitcoin's design aims to ensure transparency, immutability, and security, thereby reducing the likelihood of such catastrophic failures due to technical issues or centralized errors.
Snowden's endorsement of Bitcoin in this context highlights cryptocurrency's potential resilience against vulnerabilities in traditional financial systems. By stating "Bitcoin fixes this," Snowden implied that Bitcoin's decentralized nature could prevent similar financial system disruptions, offering a more reliable alternative to traditional trading platforms.
Notably, Bitcoin has maintained an impressive uptime of 99.989% since its inception.
This remarkable reliability demonstrates the robustness of its underlying blockchain technology. Bitcoin has only encountered two significant incidents: the "value overflow incident" in 2010, where a bug created billions of Bitcoins out of thin air, and a temporary blockchain fork in 2013 due to an incompatible software upgrade. Core developers quickly resolved both events, enhancing Bitcoin's resilience.
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