Verge (XVG) just had a bizarre and spooky event, where the entire blockchain history and transactions record of ~200 days just disappeared and is nowhere to be found. This is the first time that a chain reorganization of this magnitude has happened to a top 100 cryptocurrency by marketcap. This is latest in a long troubled history of malfunctions and exploits for the Verge project, which gained prominence after famed celebrity John McAfee pitched it to his followers back in ’17.
By loading the tweet, you agree to Twitter’s privacy policy.
Learn more
According to Antoine Le Calvez, the Coinmetric’s Verge node can now only retrieve data back from July ’20 and is now missing approx 560,000 blocks. It means that the transaction records found in those blocks have disappeared and so have the user’s token holdings. The chain reorganization is an extremely serious event, which points to the fragility and insufficiently secure nature of a blockchain.
By loading the tweet, you agree to Twitter’s privacy policy.
Learn more
What’s a Chain Reorganization (Reorg)?
A chain reorganization is an event in blockchain technology where the nodes receives blocks that constitute the longest chain with higher number of blocks than the other chain. Due to the consensus forming nature of the blockchain technology, all nodes generally accept the longest chain and discard the shorter one. It generally happens, when two blocks are mined at the same time and later reconciliation happens by discarding the chain with the less blocks.
By loading the tweet, you agree to Twitter’s privacy policy.
Learn more
The above mentioned procedure is a common occurrence, due to the time difference between different nodes receiving the data. However, an attacker or a malicious entity can also do the same by controlling the 51% mining power of the network and starting to tamper with the transaction records and history of the blockchain. They can do so by filling the chain with empty blocks and allowing it to appear as the longest chain, so the nodes will accept it in favor of the legitimate one. It results in users losing their wallet balances and the attacker acquiring high number of tokens in an illicit manner. A double spend is also a possibility, where the same tokens can be spent twice.
What Happens To The Verge Now?
Verge nodes can actually reject the longest chain and render the attacker actions useless, this would return the transaction history and wallet balances to the same as before the attack happened. However, this isn’t without it’s consequences and user’s confidence in the project has been harmed beyond repair. The activity of the Verge networks has been disrupted and will likely take sometime to come back to normal. But, due to the hash-rate deficiency and GPU-mining based algorithm, the long term security of the network is under question.
It is super easy to buy Ripple. Just take a look at our exchange comparison!
Trading Bitcoin is too complicated?
We highly recommend our Crypto-Starter-Kit to you!
Or are you looking for the current Bitcoin Price in USD? Look no further!
Bitcoin Price, Ethereum Price, Ripple Price
Follow us on Social Media and subscribe to our free crypto newsletter!
@Telegram
@Instagram
@Twitter
@TikTok
@Facebook
Diskutiere mit uns!
This post may contain promotional links that help us fund the site. When you click on the links, we receive a commission - but the prices do not change for you! :)
Disclaimer: The authors of this website may have invested in crypto currencies themselves. They are not financial advisors and only express their opinions. Anyone considering investing in crypto currencies should be well informed about these high-risk assets.
Trading with financial products, especially with CFDs involves a high level of risk and is therefore not suitable for security-conscious investors. CFDs are complex instruments and carry a high risk of losing money quickly through leverage. Be aware that most private Investors lose money, if they decide to trade CFDs. Any type of trading and speculation in financial products that can produce an unusually high return is also associated with increased risk to lose money. Note that past gains are no guarantee of positive results in the future.
You might also like
More from Altcoin
Want to Buy an Undervalued Coin? BitTorrent is your ONE!
Buying only Bitcoin and hodling won't make you "rich" anymore. In this article, we're going to tackle a solid "hot …
Doge Price Prediction – is DOGE 1 Step Closer to 1 Dollar?
Pumping a coin is one thing, but achieving price stability in the long term is another. For now, Dogecoin seems …
Top 5 Cryptocurrencies of the Week -(Week 40)
The cryptocurrency market is once again displaying good progress. This post is all about the top 5 cryptocurrencies that performed …
