Have you ever wondered what are the expenses of a crypto attack on some of the most influential cryptocurrencies? If not, we will tell you.
A new report reveals the costs a hacker supports in a 51% attack. The 51Crypto platform is the one that handled this report, which lists over 80 cryptocurrencies. The table that provides insights into assets’ analysis includes information about the market capitalization, algorithm, hash rate, 1h attack cost and NiceHash-able.
According to the list, Bytecoin, with a market capitalization of $ 1 billion, can be attacked with only $ 557 using rented electricity, while for Litecoin Cash, the resulting asset of the latest Litecoin hard fork, a hacker pays $ 515 per a 1h attack. However, to hack the most popular cryptocurrency in the world, Bitcoin, you’ll need to pay $ 554,000, for Ethereum $ 360,000, while Bitcoin Cash requires $ 72,000.
“It is not intended to encourage or help in completing an attack, but instead to get people talking about the problem and potential solutions,” the 51Crypto website reads.
The website appeared about a week after the wave produced around the 51% attack on cryptocurrencies. According to a Brazil-based researcher, Ethereum Classic can be hacked with $ 55 million, while the profit will reach $ 1 billion.
In response to 51Crypto’s listing, Litecoin founder Charlie Lee mentioned that the project may encourage the launch of cybercrime attacks by offering alternatives such as energy-saving rental that reduces costs.
“Don’t trust PoW coins that are not the dominant coin of their respect proof of work algorithm,” he claimed.
https://t.co/HYejqons0V shows how easy it is to 51% attack some of the smaller PoW coins. For some coins, 100% of the hashrate can be rented from NiceHash, which removes the capital costs of the attack!
For example, Bytecoin (marketcap ~$1B) can be 51% attacked for $557! 😲 pic.twitter.com/nQNQ0EtMV3
— Charlie Lee [LTC⚡] (@SatoshiLite) May 29, 2018
The founders of 51Crypto List ensure that it is “designed to bring light to the risk of 51% attacks on smaller cryptocurrencies“, having as a reference the latest attack on Bitcoin Gold, which hijacked $ 18 million.
