Qubic's 51% Monero hashrate grab sparks price dip, QUBIC token surges 9.5%

Qubic, a platform co-founded by IOTA’s Sergey Ivancheglo, has sparked intense debate within the cryptocurrency community after announcing its intention to control 51% of Monero’s hashrate from August 2 to August 31. The initiative, described as an “economic experiment” to test Proof-of-Work (PoW) network vulnerabilities, has raised concerns about centralization risks and potential misuse of mining power. Qubic’s unique approach involves converting mined Monero (XMR) into USDT to buy and burn its QUBIC tokens, creating a deflationary model [1].

The platform rapidly rose to become Monero’s largest mining pool in May, increasing its hashrate share from 2% to 27%. However, it has since fallen to fourth place [1]. Analyst Dan Dadibayo highlighted the dangers of 51% control, regardless of intent. He noted that a dominant mining pool could reject blocks and transactions from others, delay confirmations, suppress competitors, and enforce protocol changes. “Centralization is a risk. Censorship potential is a threat. Economic incentives are a new attack vector,” Dadibayo warned [1].

Monero’s community has responded by rallying behind the supportxmr.com pool, which now holds approximately one-third of the network’s hashrate to counterbalance Qubic’s influence. The controversy has also led to speculation about Ivancheglo’s whereabouts, with the Qubic founder jokingly commenting on the hostility, expressing hope that a reward for his head would not be paid in XMR [1].

The announcement coincided with a 1.1% dip in Monero’s price over 24 hours, trading near $323 at the time of reporting. Meanwhile, QUBIC’s token price surged by roughly 9.5%, reflecting both skepticism and curiosity about the project’s controversial strategy [1].

This episode underscores broader concerns about miner centralization in blockchain networks. While Qubic asserts its goal is to expose PoW flaws, critics argue that even benign experiments can create systemic risks. The debate highlights the tension between innovation and network security, as decentralized systems grapple with the challenges of maintaining trust without sacrificing functionality.

Source: [1] Qubic’s Plan to Control 51% of Monero’s Hashrate Triggers Strong Community Reaction (https://coinpaper.com/10242/qubic-s-plan-to-control-51-of-monero-s-hashrate-triggers-strong-community-reaction)