Monero Faces 51% Attack and Alleged DDoS Counterstrike

The Qubic mining pool attempted a 51% attack on Monero. In response, the Monero community allegedly launched a DDoS attack. The incident highlights tensions around network centralization.

Qubic’s takeover attempt sparks major disruption

Monero’s decentralized network is under threat as the Qubic mining pool tries to take control of 51% of the total hash rate. This level of control would allow it to censor blocks mined by others and centralize the network’s decision-making.

However, Qubic’s founder Sergey Ivancheglo claimed that a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack has crippled the pool, dropping its hash rate from 2.6 GH/s to 0.8 GH/s. He accused the Monero community of orchestrating the attack using a botnet powered by XMR-mining malware.

Controversy over DDoS responsibility and network integrity

Ivancheglo pointed fingers at XMRig developer Sergei Chernykh, though no solid evidence was presented. Cointelegraph checked the Qubic pool’s response times and found no obvious signs of disruption, casting doubt on the DDoS claims.

Data from MiningPoolStats showed Qubic stopped reporting hash rate on July 30, despite claims of intermittent mining at up to 1.6 GH/s.

The Qubic team has been using mined Monero to fund its token ecosystem, converting XMR into Qubic tokens. However, once the attack became public, Qubic’s share of Monero mining fell sharply.

Monero’s strong focus on privacy has made it attractive for illicit use, but this incident also underlines how fragile decentralized systems can become when power concentrates in one entity’s hands.