Cloudflare’s Blunder: When the Internet Took a Nap 😴

Ah, the great Cloudflare siesta of November 18th! 🌩️ At 11:48 UTC, the digital heavens wept, and BitMEX and Kraken users found themselves staring at blank screens, their crypto dreams momentarily shattered. Cloudflare, the guardian of the internet’s gates, admitted to a “service degradation” – a fancy way of saying, “Oops, we tripped over our own code.” 😅

BitMEX, ever the stoic, assured its users that their funds were safe, though their front-end access was as reliable as a politician’s promise. Kraken, too, chimed in, blaming Cloudflare for its web and mobile connectivity woes. Meanwhile, on-chain trading continued unabated, like a well-oiled machine oblivious to the chaos above. 🛠️

Traders, ever resourceful, turned to APIs and alternative methods, proving that where there’s a will, there’s a way – even in the crypto wilderness. Coinbase, Binance, and their ilk watched from the sidelines, smugly untouched by the drama. Phantom wallet? Still standing tall, like a hero in a B-movie. 🦸‍♂️

Solana’s front-ends – Jupiter, Raydium, and Orca – reported no issues, presumably too busy counting their gains to notice the commotion. Arbiscan and DeFiLlama, however, stumbled, their reliance on Cloudflare proving their undoing. Toncoin trackers, too, faced intermittent hiccups, a reminder that even the mighty can falter. 🤕

Cloudflare, ever the diligent fixer, issued updates faster than a politician backpedaling. By 13:09 UTC, the root cause was identified and patched, and by 13:13 UTC, services were back to normal. Or so they thought. Further updates at 13:35 and 13:58 UTC revealed continued remediation, and a dashboard restoration change was deployed at 14:34 UTC. The incident was declared resolved at 14:42 UTC, though monitoring continued, like a parent checking on a sleeping child. 👀

This disruption, the most visible since Cloudflare’s NET Dollar announcement on September 25, 2025, serves as a stark reminder of the provider’s colossal scale. Serving 24.03 million active websites and handling 81 million HTTP requests per second, Cloudflare is the internet’s backbone – until it’s not. 😬

Cloudflare’s Digital Empire

According to Backlinko, Cloudflare serves 24.03 million active websites as of January 2025. W3Techs reports that 19.3 percent of all websites rely on Cloudflare for web security. Netcraft’s July 2025 survey reveals Cloudflare’s dominance, accounting for 14.6 percent of tracked sites, with a gain of 17.7 million sites that month. Operating from 330 cities in over 125 countries, Cloudflare is everywhere – until it’s nowhere. 🌍

During the November 18th degradation, some services faced intermittent impacts, with customers reporting higher-than-normal error rates. A reminder that even the giants have their off days. 🤷‍♂️

When Clouds Collide

This isn’t the first time cloud providers have caused a stir. An AWS network congestion event on October 20, 2025, led to similar front-end outages across crypto platforms. Coinbase Support, ever the diplomat, acknowledged the issues while reassuring users their funds were safe. Airlines, banks, and social media services also felt the pain, though AWS recovered the same day. 🛫

Both incidents highlight the fragility of front-end systems, while on-chain operations remain steadfast. Cloudflare, however, has yet to release a root-cause analysis or detailed post-mortem for the November 18th degradation. Perhaps they’re still nursing their bruised egos. 😏

And let’s not forget Cloudflare’s latest venture: NET Dollar, a USD-backed stablecoin. Because what the world needs is another stablecoin, right? 🤑

2025-11-18 22:54

Cloudflare’s Digital Empire

When Clouds Collide

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