51% Attacks on Bitcoin and Ethereum Networks Are Not Possible Due to Impractical Costs: Coin Metrics
51% Assaults on Bitcoin and Ethereum Networks Are No longer That it’s doubtless you’ll possibly bring to mind Due to Impractical Prices: Coin Metrics
It is just not any longer viable for nation-states to abolish the Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) networks thru 51% attacks.
In step with the most fashionable analysis from crypto intelligence company Coin Metrics, the gigantic costs required to originate such attacks procure them impractical and unprofitable.
A 51% assault refers to a malicious actor proudly owning greater than 51% of the mining hash rate in a proof-of-work device like Bitcoin or 51% of staked crypto in a proof-of-stake community like Ethereum.
This stage of administration theoretically permits attackers to manipulate the blockchain and undermine its integrity.
51% Assaults on Bitcoin and Ethereum No Longer Viable
In the describe, Coin Metrics researchers Lucas Nuzzi, Kyle Water, and Matias Andrade argued that the present cost of capital and operational prices connected to achieving 51% administration procure precise attacks by nation-voice actors unfeasible.
The researchers equipped a metric called “Complete Cost to Assault” (TCA) to quantify the cost of attacking a blockchain community.
The use of this metric, the describe concluded that there usually are no longer any profitable avenues for attacking either the Bitcoin or Ethereum networks, rendering the monetary incentive for nefarious attackers musty.
The describe highlighted that even within the most profitable double bellow philosophize idea to be, where an attacker could doubtlessly procure $1 billion after spending $40 billion, the rate of return would very top be 2.5%.
Inspecting secondary market files and exact-time hash rate output, the researchers came upon that a 51% assault on Bitcoin would require the acquisition of roughly 7 million ASIC mining rigs, totaling round $20 billion.
Nonetheless, there simply aren’t sufficient ASIC rigs on hand on the market to protect out such an assault.
Even though a nation-voice attacker were resourceful sufficient to develop their fetch mining rigs, the describe estimated the cost to be north of $20 billion, making it financially unviable.
Ethereum’s 34% Assault Exaggerated
The describe additionally addressed concerns about a doable 34% staking assault on the Ethereum community by Lido validators.
Coin Metrics concluded that leveraging Liquid Staking Derivatives (LSDs) to assault the Ethereum blockchain would no longer very top be time-racy nevertheless additionally extraordinarily costly.
The researchers estimated that an assault on Ethereum would carry six months attributable to the churn restrict combating stake from being deployed all of sudden, with a cost exceeding $34 billion.
The attacker would contain to govern over 200 nodes and bellow $1 million on Amazon Web Products and companies (AWS) alone.
Experts, at the side of Fortress Island Ventures accomplice Nic Carter, praised Coin Metrics’ analysis as a well-known contribution to the discipline.
Carter highlighted that earlier analyses had been vague or opinion-pushed, whereas this describe equipped a rigorous and empirical diagnosis of the impracticality of 51% attacks on Bitcoin and Ethereum.
“Here’s diagnosis that has never been that it’s doubtless you’ll possibly imagine earlier than. this would possibly be a truly well-known contribution to the literature, and one which I in my opinion contain been attempting forward to for a truly very prolonged time.”
earlier ‘cost to assault’ analyses of bitcoin contain been vague or opinion pushed. no longer. the CM crew developed mine-match, which intended they were ready to identify nearly about every ASIC mining on bitcoin (essentially based on karim helmy’s analysis). this, blended with ASIC 2ndary…
— nic 🌠 op_cat-er (@nic__carter) February 15, 2024
Source : cryptonews.com
