How Does a Coin’s Market Capitalization Affect the Economic Incentive for a 51% Attack?

A higher market capitalization generally increases the economic incentive for an attack because the attacker can profit more significantly from the double-spent funds. However, a high market cap coin usually also has a high hash rate, making the attack prohibitively expensive.

For a low market cap coin, the attack cost might be low, but the profit from the double-spend is also limited, potentially reducing the incentive unless the attacker is targeting the exchange itself.