Monero (XMR) recently faced a scare when a mining pool, Qubic, briefly controlled over half the network’s mining power. This caused a temporary disruption, prompting the Monero community to find a solution.
The Qubic Incident
On August 12th, Qubic publicly announced it had temporarily controlled more than 50% of Monero’s hashrate, causing a blockchain reorganization. While Qubic called it a “51% takeover demo,” some analysts disagreed, arguing it wasn’t a true 51% attack and the disruption was minor. Regardless, the incident worried some, leading exchanges like Kraken to temporarily pause XMR deposits as a precaution.
Detective Mining: A Software Solution
Riccardo Spagni, a prominent figure in the Monero community, proposed a solution called “detective mining.” This doesn’t require changing Monero’s core code; instead, it’s a clever software tweak for mining pools.
Here’s how it works: Mining pools receive “job messages” containing information about the previous block. Detective mining involves monitoring competing pools’ job messages. If a pool is secretly mining a different block (a “selfish mining” attack), detective miners can quickly build and broadcast a valid block on top of it, forcing the attacker to reveal their hidden work or lose their advantage.
This approach leverages existing information within the mining process, making it a quick and efficient fix. The math suggests that if enough pools adopt detective mining, it makes selfish mining attacks far less profitable.
Addressing Potential Issues
Spagni’s proposal also accounts for potential counter-attacks. It suggests using multiple sensors to detect attacks more reliably, implementing short delays before reacting, and adding checks to prevent fake job messages. These are all practical measures to minimize false alarms.
Next Steps for Monero
The success of detective mining depends on major Monero mining pools adopting and implementing the software changes. While it’s currently just a proposal, it’s quickly becoming the favored solution due to its ease of implementation and effectiveness. The focus now shifts to getting the major pools on board.