Charlie Lee Sparks Thought-Provoking Point: Crypto Assets Must Be Susceptible To A 51% Attack For Decentralization

Charlie Lee Says Crypto Must Be Susceptible To A 51% Attack To Be Considered Decentralized

In a recent tweet uploaded by Charlie Lee, Litecoin’s creator, he says that by definition a decentralized digital asset must be susceptible to a 51% attack to be considered decentralized. A 51% is related to a miner, or group of miners, that control more than 51% of a specific network’s hash rate. When there is a 51% attack, it is possible for the attacker to perform double-spend attacks, harming the whole network.

https://twitter.com/SatoshiLite/status/1082491687169998848

A Twitter user called @Sisko86 wrote that if a cryptocurrency cannot experience a 51% attack then it is not a decentralized coin. Charlie Lee quoted this tweet and repeated the same what @Sisko86 wrote.

The topic started with the situation experienced by Ethereum Classic (ETC) that was apparently 51%-attacked. Yesterday, Coinbase wrote a tweet explaining that Ethereum Classic was experiencing a 51% attack on its network and that some funds were spent twice.

https://twitter.com/coinbase/status/1082364714246582274

A user called @galgitron said that XRP is immune to double-spend attacks due to the way in which it is built. This led to a discussion on whether XRP is a decentralized digital currency or not.

Several analysts believe that XRP is not decentralized due to the fact that Ripple holds most of the XRP in circulation. XRP supporters say that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies that use Proof-of-Work (PoW) as consensus algorithm are not decentralized because most of the mining activities are performed in China and could be affected by the decision taken by the Chinese government.

At the moment, there is no more information about the situation experienced by Ethereum Classic. Both Coinbase and Ethereum Classic did not provide further data about the 51% attack and what happened to the ETC network.