How Does the Concept of “Double-Spending” Differ from RBF?

Double-spending is a malicious act where a user attempts to spend the same cryptocurrency funds in two separate, conflicting transactions. RBF is a protocol feature that allows the sender to intentionally create a replacement transaction that is a double-spend of the original unconfirmed transaction, but with a higher fee.

The key difference is intent and acceptance: RBF is a legitimate method for fee-bumping, while general double-spending is a form of fraud that the network aims to prevent once a transaction is confirmed.