Privacy coin GRIN latest to suffer 51% attack
Privacy coin GRIN is the latest cryptocurrency to suffer a 51% attack as an unknown pool takes control of the network
Privacy-centric blockchain network Grin (GRIN) is currently experiencing a 51% attack, according to the information on the Grin protocol’s website. A 51% attack is an event in which a miner or group of miners take control of more than 50% of a network’s mining hash power. In the end, the attacker takes control of the network as they hold significant hash power.
In the case of the 51% attack on GRIN, the miner is yet to be identified. 2miners.com, which currently holds 19.1% of the hash power on Grin, tweeted that the unknown miner took control of 57.4% of the network’s hash power.
2miners.com warned the miners on the network that payouts were stopped. Hence, they are mining at their own risk as new blocks they mine could be rejected. While the 51% attack is underway, the GRIN protocol is warning users to wait for extra confirmations on transactions and payments.
The unknown attackers are already making changes to the network. According to GrinScan, the attackers have been able to reorganise one forked block on the network. They have also increased their control on the network as they now hold 58.1% of GRIN’s hash rate.
When a 51% attack happens, it tends to affect the organisation of blocks, leading to volatility in the token price and reducing the confidence in a blockchain. However, a mining group holding over 50% hash rate of a network doesn’t necessarily mean it is bad for the cryptocurrency. Sparkpool controlled up to 60% of the GRIN network hash rate at one point, and it didn’t affect the mining of new blocks. However, in this latest development, the miner remains unknown, which is why the protocol is worried.
GRIN coin unaffected
Cryptocurrencies that undergo a 51% attack usually experience a decline in their prices. However, GRIN has maintained a steady performance over the past 48 hours. GRIN is currently up by 1.2% against the US Dollar over the past 24 hours but has lost 1.2% of its value against BTC.
GRIN joins a list of other cryptocurrencies that have experienced a 51% attack. Ethereum Classic (ETC) was one of the most popular cryptocurrencies to experience such an attack recently. The ETC attack took place in August, and the attackers reorganised thousands of blocks on the network while they were in control.
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Hassan Maishera, @KhareemSudlow