The cryptocurrency exchange Kraken announced a temporary halt on deposits of Monero (XMR) after its network was subjected to a 51% attack on August 12, 2025. It was revealed that the attack was linked to the Qubic mining pool, which briefly controlled more than half of the network's mining power, reaching a hash rate of 2.6GH/s.
This control enabled them to execute a deep reorganization of the Monero chain by six blocks, which allowed for the rewriting of transaction history and the annulment of approximately 60 previous blocks. The incident revealed the fragility of some networks reliant on Proof-of-Work when mining power is concentrated in the hands of a single actor.
Precautionary measures from Kraken
Monero is known as a privacy-focused currency, as it hides the identity of the sender and receiver and the value of the transaction, unlike networks such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.
But despite its popularity among those interested in financial secrecy, this is not the first time it has faced security issues. In March 2024, it was subjected to a flooding attack that caused significant network congestion. However, the recent attack is considered the first direct breach of its consensus mechanism.
Kraken clarified in a statement:
"As a security measure, we have halted Monero deposits after detecting a single mining pool controlling over 50% of the network's total hash power. This poses a risk to the network's integrity. We will resume deposits as soon as we confirm the situation is stable. Trading and withdrawals are operating normally."
Weakness in the Monero community's communication
During the hours following the attack, the price of Monero dropped by up to 14%. Analysts noted that the lack of a unified official response from developers made the project appear weak in the face of the crisis, as the Unstoppable Wallet team wrote:
"Honestly, we deserve what is happening... no official data, old website, negative developers. While Qubic controls the media narrative just because it is louder."
This has raised concerns about the concentration of mining in privacy-focused currencies, prompting platforms like Kraken to take precautionary measures, at a time when regulators are raising increasing questions about the risks of trading these currencies in centralized markets.
Monero (XMR) Market Data – as of August 16, 2025
Current Price: Between $233.51 – $257.33
Market Cap: $4.69 billion
Fully Diluted Market Cap (FDV): $4.69 billion
24-hour trading volume: $66.92 million
Circulating Supply: 18.44 million XMR
Total Supply: 18.44 million XMR
Max Supply: Not specified
Global Rank: #29
Market Dominance: 0.11%
All-Time High (ATH): $517.62
All-Time Low (ATL): $0.2129
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