How Can a Smaller Coin Mitigate the Risk of a Hashrate-Based Attack?
Smaller coins can implement several strategies to mitigate hashrate attack risk. They can adopt "merge mining," piggybacking on the security of a larger chain like Bitcoin or Litecoin.
They can also use delayed block finality mechanisms, requiring more confirmations to deter double-spends. Another method is to modify the Proof-of-Work algorithm to be ASIC-resistant, favoring commodity hardware.
Finally, increasing the network's inherent difficulty through community support is key.