Grin, a privacy-focused cryptocurrency, has suffered a 51% attack on its blockchain.
It has been reported by a tweet from crypto mining group 2Miners that an unknown group accumulated 57.4% of the total hash power of the Grin (GRIN) network on Saturday evening.
Grin Network Is Under the 51% Attack! Payouts are stopped. Please mine at your own risk only because the new blocks could be rejected.@grincouncil @grin_hub @Hotbit_news @Poloniex @kucoincom @gateio_info @CoinBene pic.twitter.com/6seDSRe8Qw — 2Miners (@pool2miners) November 8, 2020
However, 2Miners only had control of 19.1% of GRIN’s hash power, while sparkpool miners came in third at 18.9%.
The report said that the attackers were able to reorganize at least one forked block at 23:17 UTC on November 7. The unknown mining group has also increased its control since Saturday by commanding 58.1% of GRIN’s hash rate at the time of publication.
2Miners’ has risen to 24.6%, while sparkpool miners’ has dropped to 11.3%.
When a group of miners controls more than half of a network’s mining power, it can affect the organization of blocks, potentially causing volatility in the token price and disrupting confidence in the blockchain.
Mimble Tremble: The hash power of the Grin blockchain is usually divided between major mining groups including 2Miners and sparkpool, but an unknown attacker accumulated more than 58% of it this weekend https://t.co/GeJIZib6HI — Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) November 8, 2020
Likewise, a mining group having control of 51% or more of a network’s hash rate does not necessarily mean it has ill intentions, sparkpool has had up to 60% of the network’s hash power before and reportedly did not interrupt the production of new GRIN blocks.
Thus, the GRIN token remains relatively unchanged on the news by falling just 1.3% over a 24 hour period.
Source: Cointelegraph