51% Attack Definition | IoT ONE Digital Transformation Advisors

Terms Glossary 0-9 51% Attack

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	51% Attack

51% Attack

Formal	A 51% attack is an attack on a blockchain by a group of miners who control more than 50% of the network's mining hash rate. Attackers with majority control of the network can interrupt the recording of new blocks by preventing other miners from completing blocks. Read More
Practical	A 51% attack will allow the attackers to create a flawed block containing transactions that never happened. Such an attack can essentially be used to print new coins on to the particular Blockchain and add them to the attacks account/wallet. Read More
Contents

Formal

A 51% attack is an attack on a blockchain by a group of miners who control more than 50% of the network's mining hash rate. Attackers with majority control of the network can interrupt the recording of new blocks by preventing other miners from completing blocks.

Practical

A 51% attack will allow the attackers to create a flawed block containing transactions that never happened. Such an attack can essentially be used to print new coins on to the particular Blockchain and add them to the attacks account/wallet.

Overview

51% Attack