Coinbase Reports Double-Spending of Ethereum Classic (ETC)

One of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges today, Coinbase, has reported that over $500,000 worth of Ethereum Classic (ETC) have been double-spent, most probably due to the so-called “51 percent attack”.

The crypto exchange quickly halted all transactions regarding Ethereum Classic, stating that “such attacks are infrequent, but they are also the most dangerous type of attack, due to the consensus mechanism of the Blockchain itself.
Coinbase shut down trading with Ethereum Classic, which leads to a drop in ETC’s price below the $5 mark. Trading volumes also took a hit, but as of press time, Ethereum Classic is gaining momentum.

The team behind Ethereum Classic stated in a Twitter post that Coinbase did not inform them about the double spending. “As the situation continues to develop, we will have a clearer picture of what happened” was also stated in the Twitter post.

Emin Gun Sirer, co-chief of the Initiative for Cryptocurrencies and Smart Contracts at Cornell University commented the rumors of the double spending in Twitter, stating that a 51 percent attack would be "a devastating consequence for the cryptocurrency community."

Kyle Samani, the managing partner of crypto hedge fund Multicoin Capital, stated that “on the off chance that coins were recorded as double spent, that blockchain would have failed big at its basic assignment and the cryptocurrency world as we know it would have no future life.” He also said in an email. "I'm astonished that ETC isn't down 50 percent or more," and "The most likely reason behind the mere 7 percent drop is that the biggest holders store their tokens in wallets and away from exchanges.”