What Is the Main Defense Mechanism against a 51% Attack in Proof-of-Work Systems?
The main defense mechanism against a 51% attack is the immense economic cost required to acquire and maintain the necessary hashrate. The high capital expenditure and operational costs (electricity, hardware) act as a deterrent.
Additionally, the decentralized nature of mining pools and the community's ability to coordinate a hard fork to change the mining algorithm can mitigate the attack's long-term success.
Glossar
Operational Costs
Expenditure ⎊ Operational costs within cryptocurrency, options trading, and financial derivatives represent the recurring expenses necessary to maintain trading infrastructure and execute strategies; these encompass exchange fees, data subscriptions, and computational resources for algorithmic execution.
Defense Mechanism
Mitigation ⎊ ⎊ Defense mechanisms within cryptocurrency, options, and derivatives markets represent strategies employed to reduce potential losses stemming from adverse price movements or systemic risk.
Defense
Mitigation ⎊ Defense within cryptocurrency, options, and derivatives centers on strategies to curtail potential losses stemming from adverse price movements or systemic risk.
Capital Expenditure
Allocation ⎊ Capital expenditure within cryptocurrency, options trading, and financial derivatives represents the strategic commitment of resources toward acquiring, upgrading, and maintaining the infrastructure necessary for participation and innovation.
Difficulty Adjustment
Mechanism ⎊ Difficulty adjustment is a crucial mechanism in proof-of-work PoW blockchain networks, particularly Bitcoin, that automatically recalibrates the computational effort required to mine a new block.