Double Spend Attack
A double spend attack occurs when a user attempts to spend the same digital asset twice by sending it to two different recipients simultaneously. In a centralized system, a clearinghouse prevents this by verifying the balance of the sender.
In a decentralized network, this is prevented by the consensus mechanism, which orders transactions and ensures that only one can be included in the ledger. If an attacker manages to gain control of a majority of the network's hash power, they might be able to rewrite history and revert a transaction, effectively double-spending the assets.
This is why high network security and high hash rates are essential for the integrity of proof-of-work systems. Protecting against this risk is the primary objective of decentralized consensus algorithms.