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Immediately after the news that Ethereum Classic's cryptocurrency (ETC) had been the victim of a 51% attack, a Twitter user with the name Crypto Tesla noted that a cryptocurrency must be open for such attacks if it were to remain decentralized. His tweet was in response to one of Coinbase who announced that he had identified a major reorganization of the ETC blockchain chain that included a double expense. A screenshot of the tweet it can be found below.
Charlie Lee elaborates on Why a decentralized cryptocurrency must be susceptible to 51% attacks
It is from this tweet that Charlie Lee elaborated what Crypto Tesla had observed for the first time. Following are the exact words and tweets from Charlie Lee.
This is a stimulating observation.
By definition, a decentralized cryptocurrency must be susceptible to 51% attacks if with hashrate, quota and / or other resources that can not be acquired without authorization.
If an encryption can not be 51% attached, it is authorized and centralized.
This is a stimulating observation. 🤔
By definition, a decentralized cryptocurrency must be susceptible to 51% attacks if with hashrate, quota and / or other resources that can not be acquired without authorization.
If an encryption can not be 51% attached, it is authorized and centralized. https://t.co/LRCVj5F0O1
– Charlie Lee [LTC⚡] (@SatoshiLite) January 8, 2019
What exactly is a 51% attack?
A 51% attack on a labor-proof blockchain involves a group of miners who control more than 50% of a mining hashrate. With this advantage, they can send funds to an address on the main chain of the network while sending similar funds to another address on a forked copy of the blockchain that they are also silently extracting. Other nodes that recognize only the main chain will see the first transactions valid. Malicious miners can then release the extracted blocks silently on the second chain and the other nodes will accept this as a new correct chain because it is longer. The original transaction will disappear and the nodes will now recognize the funds of the new chain thus creating a double expense situation.
How much would it cost to complete such attacks?
According to Cyrpto51.app, even Bitcoin can be attacked with the right amount of capital to finance the operation. For one hour's attack, malicious miners can make attacks on major networks using the following amount of funds:
- Bitcoin (BTC) – $ 332,998
- Ethereum (ETH) – $ 97.734
- Bitcoin cash (BCH): $ 10.716
- Litecoin (LTC) – $ 23.222
- Ethereum Classic (ETC) – $ 5,000
With the recent 51% ETC attack estimated to double the $ 450,000, we can now understand why someone would be motivated to organize such an event. Using the $ 5,000 cost quoted by Crypto51.App, rogue miners made a profit of 8.900% on ETC attack.
What are your views on Litecoin's Charlie Lee stating that a decentralized cryptocurrency must be susceptible to 51% of the attacks, otherwise it is authorized and centralized? Do you agree with your observations? Let us know in the comments section below.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to give financial advice. Any other opinion present here is purely that of the author and does not represent the opinion of Ethereum World News or one of its other writers. Perform your research before investing in one of the many cryptocurrencies available. Thank you.
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