What Is the ‘Cost of Attack’ and How Does Network Size Increase It?

The 'cost of attack' is the economic resource required to successfully compromise a blockchain, such as executing a 51 percent attack. For Proof-of-Work (PoW), it is the cost of acquiring sufficient hashing power.

As the network grows, the number of miners and the total hash rate increase, exponentially raising the cost of acquiring 51 percent. This increased security is a direct benefit of the network effect.