Monero Network Faces Selfish Mining Threat as Qubic Nears 33% Hashrate Control

Monero Network Faces Possible Selfish Mining Threat

The research team at BitMEX has been digging into claims that a mining group called Qubic might be gaining too much control over Monero’s network. And what they found is… interesting, if a little concerning.

According to their latest analysis, Qubic appears to have triggered a six-block reorganization—basically, a small rewrite of Monero’s transaction history. It’s not a huge disruption—Monero’s blocks are generated every two minutes—but it’s enough to raise eyebrows. BitMEX says there’s no sign of a double-spend attack (where someone tries to spend the same coins twice), so this might just be selfish mining—a way to grab more block rewards than usual.

How Much Control Does Qubic Really Have?

At first, Qubic reportedly controlled around 20% of Monero’s hashrate. But by leasing extra mining power, they’ve apparently pushed that to over 30%. That’s still short of the dreaded 51% majority, but BitMEX points out that anything above 33% could make selfish mining profitable—assuming Monero’s price doesn’t tank in the process.

Here’s where it gets murky. Qubic has its own token, QUBIC, and some analysts suspect these mining moves might be a play to boost its value. But honestly, it’s hard to say for sure. Qubic itself claims to control *more* than 51% of Monero’s network, but BitMEX isn’t buying it—at least not yet.

What’s the Endgame?

If Qubic keeps expanding its share, it could theoretically hog *all* of Monero’s block rewards. That’d be bad news for other miners, obviously. Worse, it might scare off users and traders, sending Monero’s price into a spiral.

BitMEX isn’t sounding the alarm just yet, but they’re cautious. They’ve suggested that exchanges handling Monero might want to require more confirmations for deposits—just in case things get messy.

Of course, none of this is guaranteed. Maybe Qubic’s influence plateaus. Maybe the Monero community finds a way to push back. For now, though, it’s something to keep an eye on.

*Not investment advice, obviously. Just… watch this space.