Failed 51% Attack on Vertcoin: Hackers Lose Money

The Latest Attempt on Vertcoin

In a rather audacious move, a group of hackers attempted to execute a second 51% attack on Vertcoin (VTC), only to find themselves financially outmatched by their own scheme. Reports from Vertcoin’s lead maintainer, James Lovejoy, shed light on this bizarre turn of events that occurred on December 2.

When Attack Goes Awry

This time around, the hackers targeted the cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex, aiming to manipulate the Vertcoin blockchain. However, it seems the attackers ended up shelling out more than they gained. Lovejoy estimated that the malicious actors spent between 0.5-1 BTC to orchestrate their attack, translating to a loss of approximately $440 to $4,100 in Bitcoin.

Profit from the Attack: Block rewards they managed to capture were 13,825 VTC (about 0.44 BTC).
Net Loss: The attack potentially resulted in a loss of 0.06 BTC ($440) to 0.56 BTC ($4,100).

A Striking Comparison with the Past

This wasn’t the first rodeo for Vertcoin. Just last December, hackers pulled off a major attack, making away with $100,000 worth of digital assets. This latest attempt was much less effective, as Bittrex’s proactive measures curtailed any substantial profit:

“The motivation for the attack is not certain,” Lovejoy observed.

Bittrex’s Quick Response

As the chaos unfolded, Lovejoy acted swiftly, urging Bittrex to halt VTC trading pairs. This preemptive strike likely mitigated the hackers’ success, as the reorganization of the blockchain was just slightly over 600 blocks—Bittrex’s confirmation threshold for VTC transactions. Could this have been the hackers’ downfall?

Market Reactions

In the aftermath of this failed heist, VTC/USD faced a 7% drop, settling at around $0.23. While this sounds alarming, it’s minor when you look at the recent highs of $0.61 in June.

What we learn here is that while Bitcoin operates with formidable defenses against such 51% attacks—thanks to its decentralized nature and hash rate—Vertcoin’s struggles highlight the ongoing challenges faced by smaller cryptocurrencies.

The Lesson to Take Away

And as Andreas Antonopoulos stated, a successful 51% attack on Bitcoin would set an attacker back nearly $1 billion for just a 10-minute window—a feat not likely to happen anytime soon!