While Monero has long been considered a bastion of privacy and security in the cryptocurrency world, its foundation was rocked to the core this summer when newcomer Qubic executed what many are calling a textbook 51% attack. In just three months, Qubic’s share of Monero’s hashrate exploded from a measly 2% to a dominating 51%. Not exactly subtle, guys.
The attack wasn’t theoretical. It was real. Qubic miners reorganized six blocks, invalidating roughly 60 standard blocks in the process. That’s not a drill—that’s network manipulation in action. Their clever “useful proof-of-work” model gave miners multiple revenue streams, converting XMR rewards into USDT to buy and burn QUBIC tokens. Much like ASIC mining machines, these operations worked relentlessly around the clock to dominate the network. Miners flocked to it like moths to flame.
Market reaction was swift and brutal. Monero’s price tanked 6.65% in 24 hours and over 16% for the week. Ouch. Kraken suspended XMR deposits temporarily, later increasing confirmation requirements. Trust? Shattered. Security? Questioned. The supposed ASIC-resistant RandomX algorithm? Exposed as vulnerable when someone bothers to concentrate enough GPU/CPU power.
The community scrambled for solutions. Some proposed consensus algorithm upgrades. Others suggested merged mining. A few even looked at borrowing Dash’s ChainLocks technology. Desperate times, desperate measures.
Was it an experiment? A PR stunt? A legitimate attack? The debate rages on. What’s clear is that Qubic’s dominance—reaching 2.39 GH/s at its peak—exposed fundamental weaknesses in Monero’s security model. This situation mirrors previous attacks on Ethereum Classic and Bitcoin Gold, which resulted in millions of dollars in losses for those networks.
The aftermath left the cryptocurrency world with uncomfortable questions. If an ASIC-resistant privacy coin can fall victim to concentration of mining power this easily, what does that mean for other networks? Monero’s siege isn’t just about one network’s vulnerability—it’s a wake-up call for the entire industry. Privacy and security, it turns out, are only as strong as their weakest hashrate distribution. The attack ultimately resulted in a 25% price drop for XMR within days, devastating investors who had trusted in the network’s resilience.
