Monero’s Wild Ride: Block Reorgs, Drama, and a Token That Won’t Take the Hint

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Monero’s blockchain recently decided to play a game of musical chairs with its blocks, resulting in an 18-block reorg that wiped out 117 transactions. Meanwhile, the XMR token-because nothing says “panic” like a 7% price surge-decided to moonwalk while everyone else was scrambling. 🤡

Enter Qubic, the layer 1 AI blockchain that’s apparently mastered the art of 51% attacks. Last month, they did a six-block reorg; this time, they went full Broadway with 18 blocks. One can only imagine the team’s internal meeting: “We’ve got the hashrate, let’s just… rewrite history for fun.”

The reorg began at block 3499659 on Sunday at 5:12 am UTC and concluded 43 minutes later. Sources with “nodes” (read: people who know how to type in command-line consoles) shared their dramatic screenshots on X. Because nothing says “calm down” like a timestamp and a hex code. 🖥️

Rucknium, a crypto protocol researcher who clearly needs a vacation, confirmed the breach on GitHub. Meanwhile, XMR traded flat during the chaos before suddenly deciding to rally 7.4% to $308.55. Maybe the token thought, “Why not take a 7.4% dip while we’re at it? Let’s make a drama out of everything.”

Crypto podcaster xenu, who’s basically the Nancy Drew of blockchain, speculated that Qubic might be trying to “stop the bleeding” of XMR’s price. Or maybe they just enjoy the chaos. Either way, the reorg is now the network’s largest in history. Congrats, everyone.

The repeated attacks are a reminder that proof-of-work blockchains, when not “sufficiently decentralized,” can be as secure as a house with a sticky note on the door that says “Welcome to my home!” One crypto pundit, Vini Barbosa, declared they’d stop accepting XMR for payments. Priorities, people. 🤷♂️

Monero May Need to Centralize to Curb Qubic’s Influence

Rucknium suggested Monero node operators might adopt DNS checkpoints-a move that sounds like a tech solution but smells like centralization. Because nothing says “privacy-focused” like trusting community DNS servers. 🌐

Of course, this comes at a cost: centralization, the enemy of privacy, or is it just the new neighbor who won’t stop watering his lawn? Qubic’s 51% hash rate has already blurred the lines, and now we’re just… rolling with it.

This is what looks like the 19 reorganization blocks in my monerod $XMR

– Ʊɬɱʘ 🏴 a³ ɱ ᕮ 𐤊 ױ א ⛛ (@Ulmonan0) September 14, 2025

Yu Xian of SlowMist warned that if the community doesn’t take reorgs seriously, the Sword of Damocles will “always hang over Monero’s head.” A poetic way to say, “Don’t expect a rescue from the blockchain gods. They’re busy.”

Monero Has Considered Solutions to Prevent 51% Attacks

Back in the day, Monero debated overhauling its proof-of-work system. Proposed solutions included localizing mining hardware, merge mining with Bitcoin, and adopting ChainLocks. All good ideas, if you’re a fan of hypotheticals and wishful thinking.

Unfortunately, nothing’s been implemented, and Qubic still holds all the cards. Monero’s 10-block lock mechanism was rendered obsolete by the 18-block reorg. Rucknium noted this with the enthusiasm of someone discovering their Wi-Fi is down. 🚨

Despite the drama, XMR has held steady since Qubic’s July takeover, dropping only 5.85%. Maybe it’s just enjoying the chaos. Or maybe it’s the only one who knows how to laugh at this point. 😂

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2025-09-15 05:23