- Research shows it has become economically unfeasible to carry out a BFT attack on Bitcoin and Ethereum.
- It would cost an attacker $20 billion to produce the number of ASIC mining units needed to control Bitcoin.
- As of December 2023, it would have cost an estimated $34.39 billion to carry out a 34% attack on Ethereum.
According to recent research, it has become economically unfeasible to carry out a Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) attack on Bitcoin and Ethereum. Hence, anyone attempting to take over control of any of the two blockchain networks would be doing so at a loss.
An original hypothesis on the possibility of taking over the Bitcoin and Ethereum blockchain networks suggests that any user controlling 51% of all Bitcoin nodes could dictate the network’s operations. Similarly, with a 34% attack, a user can manipulate the consensus of the Ethereum ledger.
Notably featured in the research report is that the cost of executing such attacks on the Bitcoin or Ethereum network outweighs any potential economic gains. For instance, it would cost an attacker $20 billion to produce the number of ASIC mining units needed to gain majority control over the Bitcoin blockchain’s hash rate.
While explaining the complications involved, the finding noted the impossibility for an attacker to acquire the volume of mining units needed for a BFT attack on Bitcoin due to limited microprocessor availability. The research group cited the possibility of the attacker colluding with hardware manufacturers, a process that would fail due to supply chain issues.
In the case of Ethereum, the research found that it would have cost an estimated $34.39 billion to carry out a 34% attack on the network as of December 31, 2023, when Ether traded for $2,279 apiece. Assuming that could happen, the attacker would not have gained the required control until June 14, 2024.
It is essential to note that electricity costs would also impact the responsibilities of anyone wishing to attack any of the two crypto blockchain giants. That and other reported complications led researchers to conclude that Bitcoin and Ethereum have grown beyond the dangers of BFT attacks based on the associated costs and potential benefits.
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