What Is an “Economic Attack” in the Context of Cryptocurrency Security?
An economic attack is a broad term for malicious actions that exploit the financial incentives or market dynamics of a cryptocurrency, rather than purely technical flaws. Examples include short-selling a coin before executing a 51 percent attack to profit from the resulting price crash, or manipulating the oracle data used in DeFi protocols.
The goal is to maximize financial gain by coordinating a security breach with market manipulation, leveraging the vulnerability of the network's economic structure.