Race Attack

A type of double-spend attack in which two transactions are made at the same time with the same funds.

A race attack occurs when two transactions are created on a blockchain network at the same time and with the same funds with the intention to spend said funds twice. This attack is consequently categorized as a double-spend attack. The reason it is called a race attack is that both transactions are ‘racing’ for the one that will be validated first. Nevertheless, in case of success, the user who initiated the transactions would have effectively spent the same funds twice.