If Qubic’s claim is exaggerated — and they never actually sustained >51% hashrate then this is more marketing theater than a genuine “historic takeover.”

But even if it’s just selfish mining with ~33–40% hashrate, the implications are serious: it shows that Monero’s incentive model can be exploited without actually needing a textbook 51% attack. This blurs the line between “attack” and “opportunistic mining,” and that’s a much bigger long-term threat than one flashy press release.

The real takeaway here isn’t “Monero is dead” or “Qubic is king,” it’s that economic incentives will always win over ideology in Proof-of-Work. If a protocol makes it more profitable to mine elsewhere, miners will jump even if it risks the network’s health.

So whether this was 51%, 40%, or just smoke and mirrors, the lesson for Monero devs is the same: design incentives that keep your miners loyal, or someone else will.