Analysis: Bitcoin Costs $1.4 Billion to 51% Attack, Consumes as Much Electricity as Morocco

To successfully conduct a 51 percent attack on the Bitcoin network would cost an incredible $1.4 billion.

Based on the current number of computations produced by the computers solving the Bitcoin algorithm, a.k.a. the network hash rate, it would cost approximately $1.4 billion to conduct a fifty-one percent attack.

At a standard electricity rate of $0.12 per kWh, mining one Bitcoin costs $6100.

Note, these figures do not include potential costs that could be recouped by selling Bitcoin back into the market during the chaos.

It is possible that an attacker could recoup 20-100 percent of the costs depending on the health of the Bitcoin market at the time of the sale, potentially reducing the cost of attack.

Note, these metrics mirror what the total Bitcoin network currently consumes, not accounting for higher electricity costs and mining with inefficient hardware.

The astronomical costs to fifty-one percent attack Bitcoin make it fairly secure from a potential attack from an outsider.

Total for S9is after discount = $818,715,029 Total for T15s after discount = $1,482,058,383 Infrastructure costs such as housing are a multiple of hardware costs from anywhere between an additional 22 percent to 40 percent, according to the CEO of a large-scale mining operation based in Canada.

S9i infrastructure costs: $818,715,029 * 22% = $180,117,307 T15 infrastructure costs: $1,482,058,383 * 22% = $326,052,844 Variable Costs: Costs of daily electricity consumption for S9i: 2,963,138 ASICs * 1320W = 3,911,342,160 Watts 3,911,342,160 Watts / 1000 = 3,911,342 kWh 3,911,342 kWh * 24 hours = 93,872,212 kWh per day 93,872,212 * $0.03 per kWh = $2,816,166 per day in electricity Electricity costs based the low-end of the electricity rates in Washington State, the state with the average lowest electricity costs in the United States: https://www.

2,201,374 51% attack may require at least 10 days of sustained mining, at a minimum, based on the recent Bitcoin Cash hash wars: S9i 10 days of mining: $3,097,782 * 10 days = $30,977,820 T15 10 days of mining: $2,201,374 * 10 days = $22,013,740 Total cost of S9i attack: $971,814,740 + $30,977,820 = $1,002,792,560 Total cost of T15 attack: $1,808,111,227 + $22,013,740 = $1,830,124,967 Average cost of an attack: / 2 = $1,416,458,764Did you like this article? Join us.