Firstly, the need for attackers to buy or control $OXEN to run service nodes creates a feedback loop of increasing price for anyone attempting to run large portions of the network. That is, as the attacker buys or acquires more $OXEN and locks it, removing it from the circulating supply, the supply of Oxen is decreased and the demand from the attacker must be sustained. This causes the price of any remaining Oxen to increase, furthering the feedback loop of increasing prices. Secondly, the staking system binds an attacker to their stake, meaning if they are found to be performing active attacks, the underlying value of their stake can sharply decline as users lose trust in the network, or could be destroyed or locked by the network, in any case increasing the attackers sunken costs.