Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum ($ETH) and a closely followed figure in the cryptocurrency market, has made new statements.
Speaking to Wu Blockchain, a Chinese cryptocurrency journalist, Vitalik Buterin argued that a Binance 51% attack on Ethereum would fail and result in billions of dollars in losses.
A 51% attack occurs when a single entity gains control of a majority of a network’s mining hash rate (PoW) or staked tokens (PoS).
Vitalik stated that a 51% attack on the $ETH network by a large service provider like Binance would fail, but if successful, it would result in billions of dollars in losses.
“Even if Binance attempted a 51% attack on the Ethereum network, it would fail. While the probability is very low, even if it succeeded, it would cost billions of dollars.”
Buterin stated that his claim is based on the fundamental mechanics of Ethereum’s Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism, known as the Beacon Chain.
At this point, Buterin noted that a 51% attack is much more difficult in a PoS system than in Proof-of-Work systems, where it requires controlling the majority of computing power.
According to Buterin, a potential 51% attack on a PoS system would require controlling a majority of staked $ETH to succeed. Consequently, an attacker would need to accumulate and control over 16.8 million $ETH, worth tens of billions of dollars, to be successful.
In this context, Buterin explained how the $ETH staking model contributes to network security, stating that in the event of a 51% attack, mechanisms such as minority soft forks, penalties, and inactivity leaks would instantly burn billions of dollars and harm the attacker.
Buterin stated that approximately 30 million $ETH are currently staked, and while a 51% attack would theoretically be possible with 10 million $ETH, realistically it would require control of 15 million $ETH. This would translate to a cost of billions of dollars.
From a monetary value perspective, Buterin argued that Ethereum currently maintains an almost excessive level of security.
Vitalik Buterin’s explicit rejection of a potential 51% attack on Ethereum led by Binance underscores the strength of the network’s crypto-economic design.
*This is not investment advice.
