Bitcoin SV has reportedly suffered a “massive” 51% attack beginning at around 11:46 am Eastern Daylight Time on Tuesday, resulting in up to three versions of the chain being mined simultaneously.
Analytics provider Coin Metrics confirmed Tuesday afternoon that its FARUM risk management platform had identified the 51% attack.
Information about the attack was further corroborated by Lucas Nuzzi, a network data product manager at Coin Metrics. “Someone is seriously trying to destroy BSV,” he tweeted, adding:
“For over 3 hours, attackers were able to take over the chain. All exchanges that received BSV deposits during that time might have been double spent.”
At the time of writing, it was unclear whether the attack had ended or whether the perpetrator was just taking a break.
Related: Bitmart seeks restraining order to prevent hackers from selling fake BSV
The latest update from Coin Metrics confirmed that its FARUM nodes witnessed a “deep reorg with a max depth of 14 blocks.” Although no further reorganization events were observed, “synchronization conflicts” are still taking place across major mining pools.
Bitcoin Association, an industry group that supports the adoption of BSV, issued a statement about the ongoing attack:
Bitcoin SV was the result of a highly contentious hard fork of the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) blockchain in November 2018. BSV has an identical monetary policy to BCH and Bitcoin (BTC), though the fork was a result of deep internal disagreements with the Bitcoin Cash community regarding a set of proposals to make transactions more efficient.
Referred to as “Bitcoin Satoshi Vision,” BSV has had no shortage of detractors since its split from Bitcoin Cash. While the so-called BCH conservatives prevailed in the hash war, Bitcoin SV still emerged as one of the largest blockchain networks in terms of monetary value. Although its ranking has fallen precipitously, BSV currently has a market capitalization of just over $2.6 billion.
Related: Soft fork vs hard fork: What is a hard and soft fork in cryptocurrency?