How Does Increasing the Confirmation Count Mitigate a Double-Spending Attack?
A double-spending attack requires the attacker to reverse a transaction by mining a longer, private chain. When an exchange increases the required confirmations, it means they wait for many blocks to be added after the deposit block.
Each new block makes the deposit transaction deeper in the chain. Reversing a transaction buried under many blocks becomes exponentially more difficult and expensive for the attacker, as they must re-mine all subsequent blocks.
This significantly increases the economic barrier for the attack.
Glossar
Confirmation Time
Latency ⎊ Confirmation Time, within cryptocurrency derivatives and options trading, represents the measured interval between trade execution and the definitive, immutable recording of that transaction on the underlying blockchain or clearing system.
Transaction Confirmation
Finality ⎊ The transaction confirmation process, across cryptocurrency, options, and derivatives markets, fundamentally establishes the irreversible state of an exchange.
Confirmation Count
Attestation ⎊ The Confirmation Count, within cryptocurrency derivatives, options trading, and broader financial derivatives, represents a quantitative measure of consensus or agreement observed across multiple independent validation sources regarding a transaction's legitimacy or the fulfillment of a contractual obligation.