Vertcoin cryptocurrency network fell victim to attack 51%

• Someone performed attack 51% on Vertcoin blockchain.
• The attacker potentially targeted Bittrex or tried to sabotage the network.

On Sunday, December 1 the Vertcoin blockchain experienced attack 51%, but it turned out to be not entirely successful for its organizers as the profits did not cover the costs of the attack.

Vertcoin’ lead developer James Lovejoy reported the unsuccessful attempt to carry out an attack on the network.

He noticed that on November 30 the cost of renting resources for Lyra2REv3 algorithm used by Vertcoin grew significantly. While on December 1, an unknown attacker removed 603 blocks from the main Vertcoin network and replaced them with their own 553 blocks.

However, the attacker faced some issues.

Based on the market prices during the attack’s preparation and the difficulty of the blocks the attacker produced, we estimate the attacker spent between 0.5-1 BTC to perform the attack. The total value of the block rewards the attack…