51% Attack
Controlling most of a network's mining power to rewrite it.
A 51% attack is when one party controls more than half of a proof-of-work network's total mining power, letting it out-mine everyone else, reverse its own recent transactions (double-spending) and censor others.
The bigger and more distributed a network's hashrate, the more expensive the attack. It is also why honest miners spreading across many pools is healthy for a coin.
Back to the full glossaryReady to start mining?
Pick a coin on the pools overview and open its How to Mine guide for a ready-to-run command.