Economic Inviability Attack

Definition ∞ An economic inviability attack is a type of assault on a blockchain network that aims to make its operation financially unsustainable for participants. This attack typically targets the economic incentives that secure a decentralized network, such as transaction fees or block rewards. Attackers might flood the network with low-value transactions to inflate operational costs for validators or miners, or they could manipulate gas prices to deter legitimate usage. The objective is to disrupt the network’s economic model, rendering it unprofitable or too expensive to use, thereby reducing its utility and adoption.
Context ∞ News reports on blockchain security sometimes discuss the theoretical or actual risk of economic inviability attacks, particularly for newer or smaller networks. Debates surrounding appropriate fee mechanisms and incentive structures in various blockchain protocols often address this vulnerability. The ongoing challenge for protocol designers is to create economic models that are resilient to such coordinated assaults while remaining accessible for general use.