BSV has been hit by a major 51 percent attack

• BSV (Bitcoin SV) was reportedly hit by a big 51 percent attack about 11:45 a.m
• At roughly 11:45 a.m. EDT, FARUM discovered a 51 percent attack on the BSV network
• Lucas Nuzzi validated the information regarding the attack

Following an attempted attack yesterday, some major hashing power was unleashed today at 11:46 a.m., and attackers are succeeding, according to Coin Metrics’ Lucas Nuzzi. Beginning around 11:45 a.m. Tuesday, Bitcoin SV (BSV) was apparently subjected to a huge 51 percent attack, resulting in up to three versions of the chain being mined at the same time.

Attackers had controlled the chain for 3 hours

The 51 percent attack was detected by Coin Metrics’ FARUM risk management tool, which was confirmed Tuesday afternoon.

Lucas Nuzzi, a network data product manager at Coin Metrics, backed up the information on the attack. Someone is attempting to destroy BSV, he tweeted, adding that attackers were able to take control of the chain for nearly 3 hours. During that period, all BSV deposits received on exchanges may have been double-spent. It was unclear at the time of writing if the attack had stopped or if the attacker was simply taking a break.

BSV is currently experiencing a tremendous 51 percent onslaught. Following an unsuccessful attack yesterday, attackers unleashed some major hashing power today at 11:46 AM, and they are succeeding. Over a dozen blocks are being reorganized, and up to three different versions of the chain are being mined at the same time across pools.

Report from Coin Metrics

Coin Metrics’ last report revealed that its FARUM nodes saw a deep reorg with a maximum depth of 14 blocks. Despite the absence of future rearrangement events, synchronization conflicts persist across key mining pools. The Bitcoin Association, a trade organization that promotes the use of BSV, has issued a statement regarding the current attack.

Node operators should issue the following command on their #BitcoinSV node to invalidate the fraudulent chain: bitcoin-cli invalidateblock 000000000000000003B67AEC95E9B5DA897EB5EBF3227D5A6A67835104367840

In November 2018, a very contentious hard split of the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) blockchain produced Bitcoin SV. Though the fork was caused by serious internal conflicts with the Bitcoin Cash community over a set of proposals to make transactions more efficient, BSV has the same monetary policy as BCH and Bitcoin (BTC).

Since its split from BCH, BSV, also known as Bitcoin Satoshi Vision, has had no shortage of critics. Despite the fact that the so-called BCH conservatives won the hash war, BSV remains one of the most valuable blockchain networks in terms of monetary value. BSV has a market valuation of little over $2.6 billion, despite its steep drop in ranking.

Ritika Sharma

With a background in journalism, Ritika Sharma has worked with many reputed media firms focusing on general news such as politics and crime. She joined The Coin Republic as a reporter for crypto, and found a great passion for cryptocurrency, Web3, NFTs and other digital assets. She spends a lot of time researching and delving deeper into these concepts around the clock, and is a strong advocate for women in STEM.