All news is rigorously fact-checked and reviewed by leading blockchain experts and seasoned industry insiders.
- Researchers and community members warn that the network remains vulnerable, as Monero’s existing safeguards failed to prevent the block re-org and 51% attacks.
- Surprisingly, Monero’s native token XMR rose 6% to $303, with daily trading volumes jumping 48% to $116 million.
Privacy blockchain network Monero has suffered an 18-block reorganization, which led to reversing around 177 transactions while triggering major concerns within the crypto community over the ecosystem’s future.
Surprisingly, Monero’s native crypto XMR has gained 6% today and is trading at $303 levels, with daily trading volumes surging 48% to $116 million.
Monero Blockchain Suffers Major Security Breach
Over the weekend, the Monero blockchain suffered a security breach after Qubic, an AI-focused layer-1 blockchain and mining pool, gained control of more than 51% of the network’s hashrate. The attackers had executed a six-block reorganization last month, as mentioned in our previous story.
The attack began at block 3,499,659 on Sunday, September 14, at 5:12 am UTC and ended at block 3,499,676, lasting about 43 minutes, according to node operators who shared console logs on X. Cryptocurrency researcher Rucknium confirmed the incident on GitHub, while crypto podcaster xenu was among the first to flag the event. He also called it the largest reorg in Monero’s history and suggested Qubic may have acted to curb XMR’s price decline.
The reorg has sparked debate on the future of the privacy coin, with repeated 51% attacks underscoring the risks of insufficient decentralization in proof-of-work systems. Rucknium noted it is “highly likely” node operators will adopt Domain Name System (DNS) checkpoints to mitigate further attacks.
However, critics argue the measure would come at the expense of Monero’s decentralization, already strained by Qubic’s dominant hashrate. Yu Xian, founder of blockchain security company SlowMist, said:
If no one in the Monero community takes the issue of block reorganization seriously, then this Sword of Damocles will always hang over Monero’s head.
XMR Price Jumps 6% Amid Attempts to Prevent the 51% Attack
The Monero community has previously considered major changes to its proof-of-work (PoW) consensus mechanism to defend against 51% attacks. Some of the key proposals under discussion include localizing mining hardware, switching to a merge-mining algorithm that would allow XMR to be mined alongside Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies, and implementing Dash’s ChainLocks solution.
However, despite these solutions in place, Qubic has continued to hold a dominant share of Monero’s hashrate. Thus, it leaves the network vulnerable to 51% attacks. Researcher Rucknium noted that Monero’s existing 10-block lock mechanism was bypassed in the most recent 18-block reorg, which exceeded its safeguard. The persistent threat has reignited debate over the future security model of the privacy-focused cryptocurrency.
Amid these developments, XMR price has continued to hold firm above $300 level. Furthermore, the 48% surge in daily transaction volume also shows bullish sentiment among traders.
