Monero Under Fire: Qubic Mining Pool Executes Successful 51% Attack, Rocking Crypto World
Ddos 
All cryptocurrencies based on the Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus mechanism are inherently vulnerable to a 51% attack—an event in which a single entity gains control of more than 51% of the network’s total hashing power, thereby enabling it to rewrite blockchain history, execute double-spending, or censor transactions.
Recently, the privacy-focused cryptocurrency Monero (XMR) suffered such an attack, orchestrated by the Qubic mining pool. Through attractive economic incentives, Qubic lured a large number of miners, ultimately seizing control of 52.72% of Monero’s hash rate—surpassing the critical 51% threshold.
With control over the majority of the network’s computational power, Qubic could dictate block production and isolate competing miners’ blocks, causing chain reorganizations and potentially enabling double-spending, transaction censorship, or even network paralysis.
While rare, attempts have occurred before—even with Bitcoin. Years ago, during a contentious hard fork debate, the ViaBTC mining pool sought to force a split by amassing over half of Bitcoin’s hashing power. Although unsuccessful, the effort resulted in the eventual split into BTC and Bitcoin Cash. At the time, only a few mining entities opposed ViaBTC, but those that did risked massive financial losses by directing their full hash power to defend BTC, ultimately thwarting ViaBTC’s takeover.
Qubic’s dominance peaked at 52.72% of Monero’s total hashing power, resulting in a confirmed reorganization of six blocks—evidence of a successful 51% attack. The pool achieved this by ceasing to relay information about other mining activity, thereby isolating competing miners’ blocks. This strategy created a vicious cycle: reduced profitability drove miners away, which in turn further strengthened Qubic’s control. If Qubic monopolized mining, it could generate 432 XMR daily—half used to burn its native pool tokens, the other half distributed to participating miners.
This would equate to destroying approximately $59,000 worth of Qubic tokens daily, with a monthly burn rate of $1.65 million. However, sustaining such an attack could cost Qubic as much as $75 million per day.
Qubic described the incident as a brief “test” and promised to disclose further details in due course. Nevertheless, the attack prompted exchanges such as Binance to temporarily suspend XMR withdrawals to prevent double-spending, and Monero’s price suffered a sharp decline—at one point dropping by as much as 17%—as investor confidence eroded.
Regardless of whether Qubic’s actions were experimental or deliberate, the successful 51% attack casts a long shadow over Monero’s future. If a cryptocurrency can be manipulated in this manner, its claims of security and privacy inevitably come into question.
The incident also serves as a warning to all PoW-based cryptocurrencies: should any single party control a majority of the hashing power, they indeed possess the ability to manipulate the network. This reality will likely compel other PoW projects to reassess and fortify their defenses against such existential threats.
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