Monero: Qubic strikes again with 51% attack, but XMR still rallies

Key Takeaways

What happened to Monero’s network on the 14th of September?

Monero faced its largest-ever reorg as Qubic rolled back 18 blocks, reversing around 117 transactions in a 51% attack.

What was Monero’s price reaction?

Despite the reorg, XMR rallied more than 7% to above $330 before pulling back near $310.

Monero [XMR] had quite the weekend drama.

The privacy coin’s price popped on the 14th of September, but the celebration was cut with tension as its network faced the biggest security scare in its history.

An 18-block chain reorg wiped out more than a hundred transactions, all tied to yet another 51% attack.

And yes, the culprit was the same: Qubic.

Monero’s biggest ever reorg

Monero’s blockchain went through its largest reorg to date on the 14th of September, when attacker Qubic rolled back 18 blocks and reversed around 117 transactions.

The incident, which started at block 3,499,659 at 5:12 am UTC and ended roughly 43 minutes later at block 3,499,676, has raised doubts within the community about the network’s stability.

Source: Github

This wasn’t Qubic’s first strike.

The AI-focused blockchain and mining pool had already pulled off a smaller six-block reorg just last month.

While the attack raised red flags over Monero’s future reliability, its token surprised the market by rallying more than 7% later on the day, even as broader crypto prices dipped 1%.

Fixes still stuck in debate

The Monero community has long debated ways to secure the network against 51% attacks, but so far, none of the proposals have been implemented.

Ideas ranged from localizing mining hardware to introducing merge mining with Bitcoin [BTC] and other cryptocurrencies, and even adopting Dash’s ChainLocks solution.

Despite the urgency, Qubic still maintains heavy influence over Monero’s hashrate.

Source: Github

Opinions within the community are divided.

Some warn that ignoring block reorg risks will leave a “Sword of Damocles” hanging over Monero’s head, while others argue that Qubic isn’t trying to destroy the project, but rather to stress-test it and bring innovation.

XMR shows resilience

At press time, Monero was trading near $310 after briefly spiking past $330.

The pullback is a sign of strong selling pressure, even as the token managed to hold above the $305 zone. Momentum was still neutral to slightly bullish, and MACD indicated room for further volatility.

Source: TradingView

If bulls defend $305, XMR could attempt another push toward $330. Losing this level might open the door for a retest of $295.

Despite the recent turbulence, Monero’s price structure still showed resilience against weakness.