Goodbye to Double-Spend Attacks! Coin Metrics: Bitcoin and Ethereum are now immune to 51% and 34% attacks.
According to the latest research by the encryption intelligence company Coin Metrics, the cost of attacks has grown to astronomical numbers as the blockchain scale expands, making such attacks unprofitable. In other words, the Bitcoin and Ethereum networks are now immune to 51% and 34% attacks based on consensus mechanisms.
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What are 51% and 34% attacks?
51% Attack
34% Attack
Coin Metrics: BTC and ETH networks are immune to 51% and 34% attacks
Bitcoin’s 51% attack cost exceeds 20 billion USD
Ethereum’s 34% attack cost exceeds 34 billion USD
Firstly, a 51% attack is a potential attack method on blockchain networks operating on the Proof of Work (PoW) consensus mechanism. A single entity or organization controls more than 51% of the computing power to modify the entire network mechanism, including altering transaction orders, preventing transaction verification, and executing double spend attacks, thereby compromising the network’s security and credibility.
Generally, as the blockchain network grows in scale, the possibility of an individual or group acquiring enough computing power to suppress all other validators or participants will rapidly decrease. At the same time, the cost of modifying previously confirmed blocks will also increase over time, as each block is linked through cryptographic verification.
On the other hand, a 34% attack targets blockchain networks operating on the Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism and utilizes the staking mechanism in the blockchain to carry out attacks. In this type of attack, the attacker controls over 34% of the total staked tokens in the network to manipulate the network’s operations and carry out similar attacks as mentioned above.
Both of these attacks are severe security threats that disrupt the operation mode of the blockchain, erode trust, and result in significant losses. Previously, Ethereum Classic (ETC) and Bitcoin Cash (BSV) have also experienced multiple 51% attacks, resulting in losses exceeding millions of dollars.
According to a report released by Coin Metrics on the 15th, the current 51% and 34% attacks on the Bitcoin or Ethereum networks are no longer feasible due to the extremely high cost and low profitability of such attacks.
Coin Metrics introduced a new indicator called Total Cost of Attacks (TCA) in the report to accurately quantify the cost expenditure related to these attacks. The report stated that even though the cost and benefits of implementing these attacks cannot be accurately estimated, it appears that attacking the Bitcoin or Ethereum networks is no longer profitable, eliminating the economic motivation for malicious attackers.
Based on current market data and computing power statistics, Coin Metrics believes that a 51% attack on Bitcoin would require the purchase of approximately 7 million mining machines, with a cost of about 20 billion USD, which the market does not currently have sufficient equipment to sell. Additionally, even if entities can produce mining machines themselves, the enormous manufacturing cost would still exceed 20 billion USD.
Furthermore, Coin Metrics also found that a 34% attack on Ethereum is also highly impractical, not only due to the high cost but also the extremely time-consuming nature of such an attack.
The report explained that the significant growth of liquidity staking providers, including Lido, has raised concerns among Ethereum network participants and could pose a threat to the decentralization of the network. However, Coin Metrics stated that launching a 34% attack on the Ethereum network would require at least 6 months to accomplish, costing over 34 billion USD, and the attacker would need to manage over 200 nodes through AWS services, resulting in millions of dollars in expenses.
Finally, the research team emphasized in their conclusion that even in all the assumed attacks during the experiment, the attackers could only earn a maximum of 1 billion USD after spending 40 billion USD, considering the most profitable double spend attack. Considering all costs, the return on investment for such attacks is extremely low. They also added that the current development scale and status of Bitcoin and Ethereum have made these attacks economically infeasible.
51% attack
Coin Metrics
Ethereum
Bitcoin
Double spend attack
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