Kraken Halts Monero Deposits Amid 51% Attack Concerns

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Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has temporarily suspended Monero (XMR) deposits following a suspected 51% attack on the privacy-centric blockchain, raising security concerns over the network’s stability.

A 51% attack occurs when a single entity gains control of more than half of a blockchain’s mining power, enabling potential manipulation such as double-spending or transaction reordering. In a Friday announcement, Kraken stated:

“As a precautionary measure, we have paused Monero deposits after observing that one mining pool has exceeded 50% of the network’s total hashrate. This level of centralization could threaten the network’s security.”

The incident escalated after Qubic, a layer-1 blockchain and mining pool focused on AI, claimed dominance over Monero’s hashrate on Monday, reporting the reorganization of six blocks. However, the Monero community has disputed allegations of an attack.