Kraken Stops Monero Deposits After Qubic Disputes 51% Attack Claims

Kraken, one of the largest cryptocurrency trading platforms in the world, has temporarily suspended deposits for Monero (XMR) due to reports of a 51% Attack on this privacy-focused blockchain network.

According to the exchange, this preventive measure aims to protect their users. Meanwhile, Kraken emphasizes that XMR transactions and withdrawals remain functioning normally.

Monero's XMR Surges Strongly Despite Deposit Freeze and Attack Allegations

Kraken further stated that they are closely monitoring the situation and will restore deposit services once network stability is confirmed.

This incident has raised questions about the token network's recoverability and decentralization in mining.

Monero is a cryptocurrency focused on privacy, concealing critical transaction details such as sender, recipient, and amount. Its powerful anonymity feature makes it popular among users seeking safe and untraceable transactions.

On 14/08/2025, the AI-based cryptocurrency protocol Qubic declared that it had controlled most of Monero's hash power, a situation called a 51% Attack.

51% Attack occurs when a miner or group of miners control most of a blockchain's hash power. This control can allow them to double-spend or rearrange recent transactions.

According to Qubic, this control allowed them to reorganize six blocks and orphan approximately sixty other blocks. During the alleged two-hour period, Qubic was said to have mined around 80% of the network's blocks, creating approximately 750 XMR and 7 million XTM.

However, Qubic's statement faced significant opposition and a Distributed Denial of Service Attack (DDoS) from the Monero community.

Critics argue that the protocol never exceeded 35% of the network's hash rate and relied on selfish mining strategies rather than total control.

However, Sergey Ivancheglo, Qubic's founder, emphasized that this incident highlights a critical risk for the network. According to him, this demonstrates the importance of preventing any miners from exceeding 25% of the total hash rate.

According to data from Mining Pool Stats, Qubic is currently ranked as the largest Monero miner, controlling 2.04 GH/s out of the total 6.00 GH/s network hash rate at the time of writing.

Despite the ongoing attack and controversy, Monero's market performance has shown recovery.

According to BeInCrypto data, XMR price has increased by over 10% in 24 hours, reaching around 264 USD at the time of writing.

This price surge brings the token back to pre-attack levels, demonstrating investor confidence and resilience in its market momentum.