Weekly Popular Project Updates: Monero was hit by a 51% attack, MyStonks' frozen assets sparked controversy, LayerZero's $110 million acquisition of StarGate, etc. (0810–0816)

1. The Qubic Mining Pool's 51% attack on Monero coin is suspected to have been successful link link

When Qubic's computing power in the Monero network surged from 25% in mid-July to reach a critical point of 48–50% on August 12, the founder of Slow Mist stated that the 51% attack initiated by the Qubic Mining Pool on Monero seemed to have been successful, as the mining pool currently controls the majority of the network's computing power. A major blockchain reorganization was detected on Tuesday morning. Qubic can alter on-chain history, initiate double spending attacks, and censor any transactions. It is estimated that the cost to sustain this attack could be as high as $75 million per day. Qubic responded that the Monero experiment is proceeding entirely as planned, and everything will be revealed at the appropriate time.

On Friday, Qubic announced that it once achieved over 51% hash rate control on the Monero network, resulting in the reorganization of 6 blocks and 60 blocks becoming orphaned. Preliminary reports indicate that within two hours, Qubic mined 80% of the total blocks of Monero. A total of approximately 750 XMR and 7 million XTM were mined during this round. Along with the unsold Tari from the previous round, a total of 17.2 billion QUBIC was destroyed, with an average destruction price of 3,200 QUBIC per billion, equivalent to about $55,000. Meanwhile, Computors and miners received a total of 62.2 billion QUBIC in rewards, valued at approximately $200,000. Currently, Qubic's mining earnings are nearly 4 times that of Monero, and the related "51% attack experiment" is still ongoing.

Qubic announced in a previous report the launch of this hash power attack operation. They stated that in order to test their capabilities, they would redirect a large amount of computational resources towards mining Monero, initially using a method of 50% of the time for mining Monero and 50% of the time for training their internal AI, resulting in a profitability that is 3 times higher than directly mining Monero. Subsequently, the team attempted to take over the Monero protocol to change the rules so that only miners mining through Qubic would receive rewards. During the experimental process, they encountered obstacles such as DDoS attacks, but they are still pushing forward.

Wu said team note: Qubic can form a 51% hash power advantage over Monero in this incident, mainly due to the CPU mining friendliness of the RandomX algorithm used by Monero, while the current total network hash power base is relatively small (about 3–4 GH/s). At the same time, the Qubic network itself is a decentralized computing platform that possesses a large number of high-performance CPU nodes, which is highly compatible with the RandomX algorithm, thus allowing it to concentrate sufficient hash power in a short period of time to achieve control. It should be noted that this method is difficult to have a similar impact on mainstream PoW public chains with large hash power scale and high hardware thresholds, but it may still pose a potential threat to other CPU mining chains with relatively limited hash power scale.

2. Users accuse MyStonks of freezing assets of 6.2 million dollars, MyStonks responds that they received a law enforcement request link.

Twitter user @thcaroline2233 pointed out that the stock and coin platform MyStonks triggered risk control, resulting in $6.2 million being unable to be withdrawn, and stated that they were silenced in the TG group. MyStonks claimed to have received an enforcement request from regulatory authorities regarding a certain user, stating that since its establishment, some users have used MyStonks as a mixing service, and the compliance department has intercepted this.

3. Ronin announced that it will complete the Layer 2 upgrade link in 2026.

Ronin announced that it will complete the upgrade transformation from the Ethereum sidechain to a full Layer 2 in the first or second quarter of 2026. This upgrade introduces a new economic model, Proof of Distribution, which shifts the staking rewards of RON from passive validators to active developers. The incentives will be distributed based on their staking scale and Builder Score (including on-chain transaction fees, treasury income, TVL, and other indicators). After the upgrade, the transaction speed is expected to increase by 12 times, and the network will adopt Ethereum's data availability and security mechanisms while maintaining RON as the native gas token.

4. Taiko launches pre-confirmation feature on Ethereum mainnet link

The Ethereum scalability project Taiko announced the completion of the first phase deployment of its pre-confirmation system on the Ethereum mainnet, with a transaction response time of about 2 seconds. The official statement indicated that this feature enhances the transaction predictability and usability of based rollups, and is expected to promote faster and decentralized interaction experiences for DeFi, GameFi, and enterprise-level applications.

5. LayerZero Foundation plans to acquire StarGate cross-chain bridge and its token link for 110 million USD.

LayerZero Foundation has proposed an acquisition offer of approximately $110 million to StarGate DAO to acquire the StarGate cross-chain bridge and its STG coin, with plans to dissolve StarGate DAO and exchange STG for LayerZero's native coin ZRO at a rate of 1 STG to 0.08634 ZRO.

6. Lido's market share in the Ethereum staking market has dropped to 24.4%, a record low link

Figment has added approximately 344,000 ETH in staking over the past month, increasing its market share to 4.5%, making it the fastest-growing Ethereum staking institution; Lido has lost about 285,000 ETH, with its market share in the Ethereum staking market dropping to 24.4%, a record low. Analysis suggests that Lido's declining share reflects intensified competition in the Ethereum staking ecosystem and accelerated development of institutional-level infrastructure, which helps mitigate the risks of single provider dominance.

7. GMX completes $44 million V1 vulnerability compensation, GLP holders can now claim GLV tokens link

GMX announced that it has completed a compensation plan of approximately $44 million to compensate GLP holders affected by the V1 vulnerability on Arbitrum. Eligible users can now claim compensation through the GMX dApp, in the form of two types of GLV tokens (the combination includes approximately 25% WBTC, 25% ETH, and 50% stablecoins), which include $2 million in support from the DAO treasury and $500,000 in incentives for GLV holders. The attacker in this incident accepted a $5 million bug bounty and returned the related funds. V2 was not affected by the vulnerability and is operating normally. GLP redemptions are expected to open in about 10 days.

8. Uniswap Foundation plans to establish DUNI using the Wyoming DUNA framework, paving the way to launch protocol fees link

The Uniswap Foundation proposes to establish a new legal entity, DUNI, for its DAO under the "DUNA" framework in Wyoming, maintaining the existing governance structure and having the capability to hire service providers, enter into contracts, and fulfill compliance obligations. This entity will be allocated UNI worth $16.5 million to pay for expected historical taxes and penalties not exceeding $10 million, and to establish a legal defense budget. The DUNA framework provides a legal basis for subsequent protocol fees, which will go into the DAO treasury and cannot be directly distributed to UNI holders.

9. PumpFun's market share has risen to 75%, reclaiming its leading position as the launch platform for Solana memecoins link

The memecoin launch platform market in the Solana ecosystem has formed a dual oligopoly of PumpFun and LetsBonk. Since 2025, PumpFun has maintained about 80% market share among graduated tokens, but at the beginning of July, LetsBonk quickly seized nearly 70% market share. On August 6, PumpFun regained the lead in the 24-hour new token issuance volume, with its market share rising back to about 75%.

10. Grayscale applies to the U.S. SEC for approval to launch the DOGE ETF, code "GDOG" link

Grayscale stated in the registration statement submitted on Friday that it will rename the Grayscale Dogecoin Trust to the Grayscale Dogecoin Trust ETF and plans to list it on NYSE Arca with the stock code "GDOG". Previously, NYSE Arca had submitted relevant documents for the Grayscale Dogecoin Trust. Grayscale is not the only institution applying for such products; Rex-Osprey and Bitwise have also submitted similar applications.