How Is a 51% Attack Easier on a Proof-of-Work (PoW) Coin than a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) Coin?
In PoW, an attacker needs to acquire vast amounts of mining hardware or rent hash power, which is expensive but achievable for small coins. In PoS, an attacker needs to acquire 51% of the total coin supply, which is often prohibitively expensive and would dramatically inflate the coin's price during acquisition.
Additionally, many PoS protocols include 'slashing' mechanisms that punish malicious validators by destroying their staked coins, creating a massive financial disincentive.
Glossar
PoW Vs PoS
Consensus ⎊ Proof-of-Work (PoW) and Proof-of-Stake (PoS) represent fundamentally distinct consensus mechanisms employed within blockchain networks, impacting network security and scalability; PoW, historically dominant, relies on computational effort to validate transactions and create new blocks, demanding significant energy expenditure, while PoS achieves consensus through validator selection based on the quantity of cryptocurrency they hold and are willing to ‘stake’ as collateral.
Coin
Asset ⎊ A coin represents a native digital asset on its own independent blockchain, serving as the fundamental unit of account for that network.