Bitcoin Cash [BCH] criticized for low hashrate, vulnerable to 51% attack, says Blockstream VP

Earlier this week, the VP of Solutions at Blockstream, Warren Togami posted on his Twitter about the hashrate and mining scenario of Bitcoin Cash [BCH], stating that the cryptocurrency could face dangerous consequences due to low hashrate and number of confirmations on exchanges.

In the tweets that he posted last year, Togami stated that the Bitcoin experts have always recommended 6+ confirmations to the exchanges in case of all transactions. This reduces the risk of the cryptocurrency being double-spent. However, Togami also mentioned that the competition struck the exchanges that ultimately lead them to compromise on the safety factor. His tweet read:

“Due to competitive pressures exchanges have taken a calculated risk in allowing 1 or 2 conf BTC deposits before they are credited and available for trade. /2”

Subsequently, he connected these facts with the then status of Bitcoin Cash and stated that the hashrate of the cryptocurrency was 12% of the total hashrate of Bitcoin. In this case, when the exchanges allow BCH deposits in a single confirmation, it becomes highly dangerous for the ecosystem as there exist individuals with enough hashpower to charge an attack on the BCH network.

In the latest update by Warren Togami in his recent Twitter post, he wrote that the Bitcoin Cash hashrate is now fallen lower and is now only 8% of that of Bitcoin. This will pose a risk of double-spending leading to exchange insolvency.

For instance, the recent theft of Bitcoin Gold [BTG] through 51% attack and double-spend took place despite the security measures taken by the exchanges, such as 20 confirmations. Therefore, an ecosystem with low hashrate will be vulnerable to individuals as well as hacked pools.

jean van id, a Twitter user and blockchain follower commented, sharing insights on the subject. He said:

“This guy does not know how mining with asics works. Firstly you can’t rent a lot of hashpower all of a sudden like cpu or gpu (which the btg hackers did), plus regardless if its 8% the exahashes would cost hundreds of millions of dollars and that many asics aren’t even available.”

Here, Togami replied and stated:

“One hacked pool, plus exchanges have far too small deposit confirmation requirements.”

Another cryptocurrency space follower and blockchain enthusiast, Crypto Confucius took to comments and wrote:

“All philosophy / politics aside, #BCH looks like its really on the edge right now.”