- Ethereum Classic Network reportedly suffered a 51 percent attack recently
- In the past week, ETC fell by 16.7% compared to ETH’s 23.7%
- Hash power control continues to haunt the crypto ecosystem
A Tweet by prominent cryptocurrency analyst Kevin Rooke, posted on January 14, 2019, posits that even after the recent hack of the Ethereum Classic (ETC) Network, the altcoin has outperformed Ethereum (ETH) by seven percent.
Hack Attack Leaves ETC Price Unbudged
According to data from cryptocurrency analytics website CoinMarketCap, for the week from January 7 to January 13 – ETC was down by 16.7 percent, compared to 23.7 percent fall of ETH.
This sparks further doubts on claims whether the hack attack on the ETC Network was actually a 51 percent attack.
Last week Coinbase announced a 51% attack on Ethereum Classic worth over $1 million in double-spends.
Since then, Ethereum Classic has *outperformed* Ethereum by 7%.
WTF. pic.twitter.com/B6DCTYZHKd
— Kevin Rooke (@kerooke) January 14, 2019
For the uninitiated, on January 8, 2019, reports emerged that the ETC Network fell victim to an organized hack by cybercriminals. The attack orchestrated by a group of hackers reorganized close to 100 blocks on the Ethereum Classic blockchain. Touted as the first major crypto attack of 2019, it was shrouded with speculations trying to figure out the modus operandi of the cyber attack.
Following the attack, cryptocurrency exchange behemoth Coinbase quickly suspended all transactions interacting with the ETC blockchain. Coinbase published a blog post on January 8, 2019, stating that it identified a total of 15 reorganizations on the ETC blockchain. Reportedly, the double-spend attack resulted in the theft of 219,500 ETC, approximately worth $1.1 million.
Hackers reportedly return $100,000
According to a blog post by cryptocurrency exchange Gate.io, published on January 12, 2019, the hackers of the 51 percent attack has returned ETC worth $100,000. The exchange tried to reach out to hackers to extract more information on the subject matter, but are yet to receive any response.
Gate.io speculates that the attackers might be white hackers to remind the public about the susceptibility of blockchain networks with weak hashing power. The exchange added in its blog post that the hashing of the ETC Network is still not strong enough, and it’s “still possible to rent enough hashing power to launch another 51% attack.”
While ambiguity still plagues the entire network hack, the impact of has power monopoly on blockchain networks cannot be discarded. This becomes all the more important because of the existence of large mining corporations like Bitmain which inches closer to the fatal 51 percent mark day by day.
