Just days after privacy-focused cryptocurrency Monero (XMR) suffered a 51% attack, fears are now spreading to Bitcoin. Concerns have grown as two major mining pools, Foundry USA and AntPool, have gained control of more than half of the network’s computing power.
This level of dominance has raised fears of a potential 51% attack, where a group of miners could technically manipulate transactions or reorganize blocks on the blockchain. As noted by Leo Lanza on X, Foundry USA and AntPool now control 33.63% and 17.94% hash power of the network respectively.
The fears grew after Foundry mined eight consecutive blocks in a row, a rare event that highlighted the growing centralization of Bitcoin mining. While specialists point out that executing a 51% attack would be outrageously expensive and self-harmful for the involved miners, the fact that there is such concentrated power has concerned many in the cryptocurrency community.
Analysts have also noted a rise in empty blocks while transaction fees have dropped to just 1 sat/vB, showing weaker activity across the network.
Bitcoin Price Pressure
These security issues follow as the price of Bitcoin is under intense pressure. Following last week’s all-time high at $124,457, BTC has fallen to around $113,000 and is making its way towards a crucial support at $110,530. A breakdown below that level could open the door to deeper losses, possibly toward $107,000 or even $100,000 in the near timeline.
However, supporters of Bitcoin are arguing that miners have no incentive to attack the network that secures their own profits. Still, after Monero’s breach, the perception of risk alone is proving enough to rattle market confidence and fuel debate about the centralization of mining power.
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