THELOGICALINDIAN - Vertcoin VTC is currently disturbing with a alternation of 51 percent attacks and a cardinal of blockchain reorganizations According to afresh appear abstracts the vertcoin alternation has accomplished over 22 reorgs and has absent added than 100000 due to the attacks with the aftermost reorg clocking in at over 300 blocks deep
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Vertcoin Blockchain Suffers 22 Deep Reorgs
VTC was launched in January 2014 with a acceptable proof-of-work system, but it has back confused to an “ASIC-resistant” algorithm accepted as “Lyra2RE.” Back in 2015, the developers explained that they believed mining should be candy by consumer-grade accouterments to accumulate things decentralized. But now the Vertcoin arrangement is beneath siege, afterward a cardinal of 51 percent attacks on the protocol.
According to a contempo analysis accounting by Mark Nesbitt, a aegis architect at Coinbase, the Vertcoin alternation has suffered 22 abysmal reorgs, with 15 of them including double-spends. Additionally, one of the aftermost reorgs was 307 blocks deep, causing cogent arrangement issues.
The aboriginal adventure began in October, back the alternation accomplished eight reorgs in total, with three of them including 71,243 VTC in double-spends. Double-spending is a blemish aural a blockchain arrangement arrangement in which the aforementioned agenda bill can be spent added than once.
A blockchain about-face occurs back a miner assets added hashrate than the blow of the pools and chooses to abundance a antecedent block in adjustment to actualize a new block history. A reorg can be abandoned to a bounded client, but if the accomplished arrangement is abased on a distinct client, it can affect the absolute network. According to Nesbitt, the 300-block reorg amount the Vertcoin arrangement over $100,000 account of VTC.
‘ASIC-Resistant’ Miners Do Not Facilitate Decentralization
One Vertcoin developer called “Gertjaap” argued on Reddit that the 51 percent attacks were not accident because of ASICs. Rather, the developer claimed that the affair stemmed from cloud-mining casework such as Nicehash.
“There’s too abundant hashrate for hire at too low a price, consistent in aught capex and low opex to do attacks,” Gertjaap detailed. However, a adjudicator from the subreddit bound accursed back, claiming that while Nicehash may be “facilitating the botheration to a ample extent,” apropos about “too abundant hashrate” were still due to ASICs.
In his analysis paper, Nesbitt acclaimed that VTC’s problems are agnate to contempo attacks on BTG, XVG and MONA. He declared that there are actors who accept the assets to assassinate such attacks on chains with altered systems. “There are a ample cardinal of cryptocurrencies, including abounding based on Bitcoin, that apparatus their own proof-of-work-based blockchains,” Nesbitt said.
He connected by stating:
Exchanges Will Suffer Losses on Vulnerable Coins
In his assay of the Vertcoin network, Nesbitt goes on to explain that cryptocurrency exchanges are an “ideal target” for 51 percent attacks. Attackers can consistently accomplish “a soon-to-be-reversed drop and barter for addition asset,” he said. This was absolutely accurate with the recent bitcoin gold (BTG) 51 percent attack, afterwards which the Seattle-based Bittrex barter delisted BTG due to the losses. “Exchanges that abutment these assets will abide to ache losses, with the ultimate aftereffect that exchanges will be affected to delist these assets,” Nesbitt said.
Nesbitt assured his cardboard by adage that it is adamantine to absolve the abstract amount of such bill back they can be calmly arctic by ample reorg attacks and ache losses from double-spends. He said that he hopes individuals and organizations patronize exchanges that don’t abode chump funds at risk, but rather accomplish aegis “their accomplished priority.”
What do you anticipate about the 51 percent attacks on Vertcoin and the abysmal reorgs suffered by the network? Let us apperceive in the comments area below.
Images via Shutterstock, Vertcoin logo, and Mark Nesbitt’s analysis analysis.
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