Monero faces a historical threat with possible 51% attack on its network by Qubic

Qubic, led by the co -founder of IOTASergey Vivancheglo, claims to have reached more than half of the mining power of Monero, generating concern about possible attacks on the integrity of the network.

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• Qubic It went from controlling less than 2% of hashrate in May to exceed 51% in August.
• The majority control would allow rewriting transactions and censor payments.
• Monero It fell 6% in 24 hours after the ad, accumulating a weekly decrease of 13.5%.

Monero, The cryptocurrency focused on privacy, is going through one of the greatest security challenges in its history.

Qubic, a project headed by Sergey Vivancheglo, co -founder of IOTA, He affirmed that he now controls more than 51% of the mined power of the network. This level of domain, in a work test system (Pow), Grant the ability to modify the history of transactions, block payments or execute double expense attacksaccording to review COINDESK.

What is a 51% attack

In networks based on Pow, Miners compete to add transaction blocks. If a single actor or group controls more than half of the computing power, you can advance the rest and reorganize the chain, replacing confirmed and potential blocks by sending the same coin twice.

You can also censor transactions, something especially critical for Monero due to your approach to privacy. These attacks are not theoretical: Ethereum Classic suffered several incidents in 2020, and Bitcoin Gold He went through this type of event in 2018 and 2020. smaller coins such as Verge They have also been violated.

As Qubic did you get control?

Monero Use the algorithm Randomx, designed to discourage the use of ASIC and favor mining with CPU, looking for greater decentralization. However, Qubic It went from having less than 2% of the miming power in May, to more than 25% at the end of July, to exceed 51% in August.

Your system of “Useful work test” converts the rewards obtained from mine Monero in USDT, which are then used to buy and burn your own token Qubic This model has attracted miners who abandoned other mining groups, rapidly increasing your power quota.

Industry reactions

The cto of Ledger, Charles Guillemet, estimated that maintaining this control level would cost USD $ 75 million per day, warning that, although potentially profitable, it could destroy confidence in the network in a short time.

For its part, Bitmex Research He pointed out that Qubic seeks to appropriate all block rewards Monero, which would constitute a sustained selfish mining strategy. To be achieved, the value of XMR It could collapse.

The market reaction was immediate: XMR It quotes USD $ 256, with a 6% drop in the last 24 hours and a weekly decline of 13.5%.

The experiment and its implications

In your blog, Qubic He affirmed that the action does not seek to destroy Monero, but demonstrate that a coordinated strategy and economic incentives can grant effective control of a larger network.

The project assured that, at its maximum point, mine Monero Under his scheme it was almost three times more profitable than traditional mining. This attracted more participants, reinforcing their dominance over the hashratate.

The crypto debate community on the consequences. If a single entity controls Monero, Transaction censorship could question your privacy promise. Although Bitcoin It is practically immune because of its high hashrate, intermediate networks such as Ethereum Classic, Bitcoin Gold and Monero They are more vulnerable.

Currently, Qubic says not to have executed total consensus control to avoid drastic impacts on the price of XMR, But the threat is still latent. Meanwhile, service denial attacks, attributed to defenders of Monero, They continue.

Written article with the help of an AI content editor, edited by Angel Di Matteo / Diariobitcoin

Original image of Diariobitcoin, created with artificial intelligence, for free use, licensed under public domain.

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