Kraken Suspends Monero Deposits After 51% Attack Spikes 14% Price Drop

Kraken has temporarily suspended Monero (XMR) deposits following a confirmed 51% attack on the Monero network, which occurred on August 12, 2025. The attack was attributed to the Qubic mining pool, which briefly controlled over 50% of Monero’s hashrate, peaking at 2.6GH/s. This allowed Qubic to execute a six-block deep reorganization of the Monero blockchain, orphaning approximately 60 blocks and rewriting parts of the ledger. The incident has raised concerns over the security and decentralization of mid-tier proof-of-work (PoW) networks like Monero [1].

Monero is a privacy-focused cryptocurrency launched in April 2014, designed to offer untraceable transactions by concealing sender, receiver, and transaction amount details. It has previously experienced security issues, including a network congestion event in March 2024, but the recent 51% attack marks the first major breach of its consensus protocol. Kraken cited the risk to network integrity as a key reason for the deposit suspension and stated it would resume deposits once the situation is deemed secure. The exchange emphasized that trading and withdrawals for XMR remain unaffected [1].

The attack has led to a price decline of up to 14% for Monero, reigniting debates around mining concentration and the vulnerability of privacy coins to centralized threats. Some analysts argue that the reorganization could be interpreted as a stress test of Monero’s decentralization rather than a malicious act, but the lack of an official response from the Monero community has been criticized as a failure to address public concerns effectively. An anonymous comment from the privacy-focused Unstoppable Wallet noted the absence of unified resistance, outdated communication, and passive development activity, further highlighting the community’s perceived vulnerability [1].

The broader crypto market has also been affected, with Monero ranked 29 by market capitalization at the time of press. As of 9:20 pm UTC on August 16, 2025, the total crypto market was valued at $3.98 trillion, with Bitcoin maintaining a dominance of 58.92%. The incident underscores the growing regulatory and market scrutiny of privacy coins, especially in environments where centralized control can undermine network security [1].

Source: [1] Kraken Suspends Monero Deposits After 51% Attack (https://cryptoslate.com/kraken-suspends-monero-deposits-after-51-attack/)