What Mitigation Strategies Can Smaller PoW Coins Employ against Hashrate Rental Threats?

Smaller PoW coins can implement several strategies, including switching to a different Proof-of-Work algorithm (PoW change) to invalidate existing specialized mining hardware. They can also use checkpointing mechanisms or delayed finality to make double-spending harder.

Merged mining with a larger, more secure coin is another strong defense, leveraging the parent chain's massive hashrate. Community vigilance and rapid response to unusual hashrate spikes are also crucial.