Attacking PoS consensus

Proof of stake uses state cryptocurrency to manage power on the Blockchain, and it has several advantages over proof of work, such as requiring less computation and reducing the probability of two valid blocks being created at the same time.

However, proof of stake is not perfect and can be vulnerable to attacks. We explore some of the ways in which proof of stake can be attacked, including flaws in the mechanism for choosing a block creator, broken hash functions, and broken digital signature algorithms. While these attacks are possible, the hash functions and digital signature algorithms used in Blockchain are generally considered secure.

We also touch on other attack mechanisms, such as the:

• XX% attack

• fake stake attacks

• long-range attacks

• the nothing at stake problem

• and the sour milk attack