Qubic Achieves 51% Monero Hash Rate in Experimental Attack: Chain Reorganization and Economic Impact Revealed

An experimental 51% attack on the Monero network has yielded significant technical and economic implications. Over a two-hour window, Qubic’s mining operations resulted in the network achieving 52% of global hash rate—peaking at 2.71 GH/s—leading to 6 blocks being reorganized and 60 orphaned blocks. The operation demonstrated Qubic’s computational dominance, mining 80% of total Monero blocks during this period and generating approximately 750 XMR alongside 7 million XTM tokens.

The financial dimension of this experiment tells an interesting story. Combined with unsold Tari from a previous round, the 7 million newly mined XTM tokens resulted in the destruction of 17.2 billion QUBIC tokens, translating to roughly $55,000 at an average burn price of 3,200 QUBIC per billion. Meanwhile, the computational infrastructure—encompassing both computors and miners—collectively earned 62.2 billion QUBIC in rewards valued at approximately $200,000.

From a network perspective, Qubic successfully mined 5,506 Monero blocks during this experimental window, establishing a significant presence on the network. The resulting economic advantage proves remarkable: mining earnings through Qubic currently exceed Monero’s direct mining returns by nearly fourfold, suggesting a substantial incentive structure differential between the two ecosystems.

The 51% Monero experiment remains active and ongoing, continuing to generate data on network vulnerability scenarios and hash rate concentration dynamics. This controlled testing environment provides valuable insights into blockchain security under extreme conditions.