What happens if Kaspa's 5-second network delay limit is exceeded?

If network delays exceed Kaspa's 5-second safety threshold, the system experiences graceful degradation rather than catastrophic failure. Graceful degradation means performance may slow or degrade, but the network does not simply break or halt. Because the 5-second bound is an empirical parameter — not an enforced protocol rule — the system was designed with the possibility of violations in mind. For a beginner, this means a period of poor global internet connectivity is more likely to cause a temporary slowdown than a complete network collapse.