ChainBleedv0.1 · open intel
← back to feed·INFRASTRUCTURE2020-08-06 · 5y ago
Incident · SLOWMIST

ETC

51% attack
Estimated loss
$1.68M
VERDICT —OUT OF SCOPE
Root cause is infrastructure (DNS / cloud / database / third-party API) compromise, not on-chain contract logic. Pre-deployment source review would not surface this; coverage lives in cloud-security + supply-chain audit, separate discipline.
▰ METHOD
INFRASTRUCTURE
INFRASTRUCTURE
Root cause

Root-cause analysis not yet published. The incident description below contains all currently available signal — review the attack transaction directly for definitive forensics.

Forensic narrative

Bitfly officially tweeted that ETC encountered another large-scale 51% attack today. The attack has resulted in the reorganization of more than 4000 blocks. Bitfly reminded that unless the official notified further, the current mining pool payment is invalid. At the same time, the government encourages all miners to switch ETH pools on the official website. Blockchain data analysis company Bitquery released an investigation report on the second 51% attack of ETC. The report shows that the initiator of this attack and the initiator of the first attack were the same miner. The attackers profited at least 1.68 million US dollars from this attack. Attack method (per SlowMist): 51% attack. Reported loss: $ 1,680,000.

Primary source
https://twitter.com/etherchain_org/status/1291216063628226562
Sourced from
slowmist
Technical record
chain
protocol
ETC
bug_class
infrastructure
date_occurred
2020-08-06
loss_usd
$1,680,000
source_id
sm:etc::2020-08-06
Related — same bug class· infrastructure
2026-04-18
1mo ago
Kelp DAO
Infrastructure-level attack
infrastructure
$293.00M
OUT OF SCOPE
2026-04-18
1mo ago
DNS registrar for eth.limo
DNS hijacking
infrastructure
OUT OF SCOPE
2026-04-04
2mo ago
HypurrFi
Domain Hijacking
infrastructure
OUT OF SCOPE
2026-03-31
2mo ago
Steakhouse Financial
Social Engineering
infrastructure
OUT OF SCOPE
2026-03-19
2mo ago
Neutrl
DNS Hijacking
infrastructure
OUT OF SCOPE
2026-03-18
2mo ago
ETH
Neutrl
DNS Hijacking Attack
infrastructure
OUT OF SCOPE
ChainBleed — live web3 threat intelligence