New numbers show just how much money it would take to launch 51 percent attacks on Bitcoin (BTC) and other proof-of-work (PoW) cryptocurrency networks.
PoW is a protocol used by many blockchains to keep networks secure and to validate transactions, preventing attacks by enabling a distributed consensus of trustless transactions.
A 51 percent attack happens when a single entity takes control of at least 51% of the network’s mining hashrate or computing power, enabling it to prevent confirmation of new transactions, halt payments among users, and even reverse completed transactions that will allow double-spending of a single coin.
Using price data from NiceHash, a marketplace for buying and selling hashing power, Crypto51 shows a dynamic list of how much an entity needs to spend to attack the Bitcoin network: $641,011 per hour, at time of writing.
The cost of taking over the Ethereum network is far less, at $84,307 per hour. The third most expensive network to attack is that of Ravencoin, with attacks costing $21,538 per hour.
Cost of 51 percent attacks per hour/# rank of cryptocurrency by market cap
- Bitcoin (BTC) $641,011
#1 - Ethereum (ETH) $84,307
#2 - Ravencoin (RVN) $21,538
#51 - Litecoin (LTC) $12,616
#7 - Bitcoin Cash (BCH) $10,485
#5 - Zcash (ZEC) $10,273
#26 - Bitcoin SV (BSV) $8,452
#6 - Ethereum Classic (ETC) $4,771
#21 - Dash (Dash) $2,647
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