What Are the Economic Consequences of a Successful 51% Attack?

A successful 51% attack would have severe economic consequences for a cryptocurrency. The attacker could double-spend their own coins, effectively stealing from merchants or exchanges.

This would erode trust in the network's security and immutability, causing the cryptocurrency's value to plummet. Exchanges would likely halt trading of the compromised currency, and its reputation could be permanently damaged.

The attacker's own holdings of the currency would also devalue, potentially making the attack unprofitable in the long run.