Recent research indicates that Bitcoin's vulnerability to "51% attacks" is severely underestimated by the market, with attackers potentially needing only approximately $6 billion to destroy Bitcoin.

On October 9th, Duke University finance professor Campbell Harvey warned in his latest research that while both Bitcoin and gold are considered favorites for "currency devaluation trades," Bitcoin faces risks far exceeding those of gold.

Attackers could gain control of the Bitcoin network within a week by purchasing $4.6 billion worth of hardware equipment, investing $1.34 billion in data center construction, plus approximately $130 million per week in electricity costs.

(Overnight Bitcoin's rebound failed, falling about 3.3% from daily highs)

By shorting Bitcoin through derivatives markets, attackers could generate massive profits when Bitcoin's price crashes, sufficient to cover attack costs. Harvey emphasized:

"You can destroy Bitcoin's value with $6 billion. While this attack sounds overly technical, it has high credibility."

Matt Prusak, President of American Bitcoin Company, believes these concerns are exaggerated, noting that accumulating and deploying mining equipment would take years, shorting requires massive collateral, and exchanges could suspend suspicious transactions.

**51% Attack: A Fundamental Threat to Bitcoin**

A 51% attack occurs when a single party controls more than half of a blockchain network's computing power.

Once successful, attackers can manipulate the ledger, forge transactions, and even conduct "double-spend attacks" — where the same digital token is used repeatedly. In contrast, gold faces no similar systemic risks.

Furthermore, the current boom in Bitcoin derivatives markets provides economic incentives for 51% attacks.

Harvey's paper indicates that traders can establish short positions and generate massive profits with less than 10% of daily trading volume, sufficient to cover attack costs.

This profit mechanism significantly enhances the economic feasibility of attacks, especially considering that attack costs represent only 0.26% of Bitcoin's total network value, far below many investors' expectations. Harvey stressed:

"The low attack cost is a serious issue for Bitcoin's future viability and security."

Harvey further noted that such attacks would likely be conducted overseas, as many regions lack effective market manipulation prevention measures.

**Industry Divided on Attack Risk**

Despite Harvey's serious warnings, the industry holds differing views.

Prusak believes economic feasibility is insufficient to support the 51% attack theory, stating:

"Accumulating and deploying sufficient mining equipment would take years, making it impractical in reality."

Prusak also emphasized that shorting Bitcoin requires massive collateral, and if exchanges suspect manipulation, they could suspend trading, preventing attackers from realizing profits.

Other blockchains have indeed suffered 51% attacks and survived.

Bitcoin forks like Bitcoin Gold and Ethereum Classic have been attacked, but they are smaller blockchains with lower miner support, making them more susceptible to manipulation.