What is a 51% Attack?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let’s dig into the topic of 51% attacks.

Remember: One of the core ideas of blockchains is to get rid of a central authority for checking payments for fraud. This is different from traditional finance, like credit card company VISA, where a single organization controls the entire flow of money, and thus can easily check every transaction.

But how exactly do you decentralize such a system? It's easy actually: You have many actors who validate independently.

Say you write the word "cryptohunt" on 20 pieces of paper, which you then distribute to 20 people in a room. Someone could walk into that room and ask any honest person for the word, and they'd get the right answer. But what happens if someone starts to mess with your guests, and tells them the wrong word on purpose?

Blockchains like Bitcoin have a simple rule for this: At least 50% of the people in the room have to confirm the word, otherwise you can't trust it.

And that's where the 51% attack comes in. What if more than half of the people in our room conspired to change the word? Then their fake truth becomes the real truth.

In crypto, what's validated are of course transactions and account balances, and the people are computers. But there is always a fear that someone could get enough computers together to take over a blockchain – this is the 51% attack.

In reality though, that has never happened for Bitcoin and co, thanks to proof-of-work and proof-of-stake. We highly recommend to listen to those episodes to dig a little deeper.

And next time we talk about cryptohunt's upcoming launch and how you can get exclusive early access.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.