How Does a Race Attack Attempt to Double-Spend Cryptocurrency?
A race attack is a type of double-spending attack where an attacker sends two conflicting transactions in quick succession to two different vendors. The goal is to have one transaction confirmed for the goods or services and the other transaction sent back to the attacker's own wallet.
This attack relies on the short time window before a transaction is included in a block. To mitigate this, merchants should wait for at least one confirmation before considering a transaction final.
Glossar
Race Attack
Momentum ⎊ Within cryptocurrency derivatives and options trading, a "Race Attack" describes a coordinated, high-frequency trading strategy designed to rapidly exploit short-term price dislocations arising from order flow imbalances, particularly in less liquid perpetual futures contracts.
Network Latency
Propagation ⎊ Network latency, within cryptocurrency, options trading, and financial derivatives, represents the time delay for data transmission across a network, critically impacting trade execution speeds and arbitrage opportunities.
Conflicting Transactions
Resolution ⎊ Conflicting transactions, within cryptocurrency, options, and derivatives, represent instances where simultaneous or near-simultaneous instructions challenge the deterministic order of execution, potentially violating established precedence rules.
Race Attacks
Vulnerability ⎊ Race attacks exploit the time delay between a transaction being broadcast to the network and its inclusion in a block, allowing an attacker to submit a conflicting transaction to gain an advantage.