How Does the Concept of “Economic Finality” Differ from “Cryptographic Finality”?
"Cryptographic finality" is the theoretical guarantee that a block is irreversible due to the cryptographic difficulty of reversing the Proof-of-Work (e.g. 6 confirmations).
It is probabilistic. "Economic finality," primarily used in PoS, is the point at which the cost of reverting a block is so high (due to slashing the attacker's stake) that it is economically irrational for any actor to attempt it.
Economic finality is a stronger, deterministic guarantee that relies on financial incentives rather than computational difficulty.
Glossar
Cryptographic Difficulty
Mechanism ⎊ Cryptographic Difficulty represents the dynamically adjusted target threshold that miners must meet to successfully solve the Proof-of-Work hash puzzle and append a new block to the blockchain.
Cryptographic Finality
Attestation ⎊ Cryptographic finality, within decentralized systems, represents the irreversible confirmation of a transaction or state change, moving beyond probabilistic finality common in many blockchain architectures.
Economic Finality
Certainty ⎊ The point at which a transaction is deemed irreversible by economic consensus provides the necessary certainty for structuring long-term financial commitments, such as multi-year sustainability-linked bonds or options.