Ethereum community researcher, Justin Drake, suggests that executing a 51% attack on the Bitcoin network is much easier and less costly than attempting a similar attack on Ethereum. Drake explains that although a 51% attack on Bitcoin would be very expensive, estimated at around $10 billion, it is still possible. In contrast, he argues Ethereum would be much harder and more expensive because of its Proof-of-Stake (PoS) security.
Ethereum community researcher, Justin Drake, suggests that executing a 51% attack on the Bitcoin network is much easier and less costly than attempting a similar attack on Ethereum. Drake explains that although a 51% attack on Bitcoin would be very expensive, estimated at around $10 billion, it is still possible. In contrast, he argues Ethereum would be much harder and more expensive because of its Proof-of-Stake (PoS) security.
Drake, a key figure in the Ethereum Merge that transitioned the network to PoS, shared his views in an interview . His remarks align with a May 14 X post by Grant Hummer, co-founder of Ethereum-focused company Etherealize, who estimated the cost of a Bitcoin 51% attack at around $8 billion. Hummer further suggested that if this cost drops to $2 billion, a successful attack on Bitcoin is almost inevitable.
Hummer also highlights that the most critical issue for Bitcoin is its “security budget,” which he believes matters more as the mining rewards for maintaining the Bitcoin network are lessened. With a lowering of these rewards, he suggests it becomes simpler for a single entity to dominate the network, a situation that threatens its decentralized system.
In contrast to Bitcoin, Drake highlights why an attack on the Ethereum chain is expensive due to its PoS design, which requires controlling at least half of the network to have an effect. Currently, there are over 34 million ETH, equivalent to approximately $89.6 billion, being staked across the Ethereum network. Even before considering the effect on the market obtaining 51% of ETH would require paying approximately $44.8 billion.
In addition, the cost of attacking Ethereum is enhanced by its current market cap of around $316 billion and a 24-hour trading volume of roughly $25 billion. Based on this an attacker would have to control approximately 14.2% of the market and 180% of the daily trading volume to cause the price of ETH to jump and increase the attack’s cost.
Drake also highlighted Ethereum’s “social layer” as a unique defense mechanism against 51% attacks. This aspect of Ethereum’s security relies on the collective action of the network’s community which can identify and penalize malicious actors through social slashing, a process unavailable in Bitcoin’s proof-of-work (PoW) framework.
Experts in the industry have expressed mixed opinions regarding the viability of such attacks. According to Matan Sitbon, the CEO of Lightblocks, even though Ethereum is secure through cryptography, it truly relies on the support provided by the community. Meanwhile, Pavel Yashin stated, if the network is detected to be centralized, Ethereum can deal with the threat by forking the network, effectively isolating compromised chains.
Hassan Khan, CEO of Ordeez, a Bitcoin liquidity protocol, admitted to the theoretical risk but stated that the high amount of energy needed makes a sustained 51% attack on Bitcoin unlikely, despite its higher theoretical vulnerability.
