July 31, 2025

Merged Mining and Proof of Useful Work - Security Implications for Monero. W/ Francisco Cabanas | EPI 358

1 hour 17 minutes

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TODAY'S SHOW: This episode of Monero Talk featured a discussion with Arctic (Francisco) on key developments in Monero and the broader crypto ecosystem. Arctic shared updates on his work optimizing scaling for full chain membership proofs, addressing concerns about increased transaction sizes and verification times.

They discussed the Samurai Wallet case, where developers pled guilty to money transmission violations tied to fees sent to operators, reinforcing existing FinCEN guidance rather than creating new law.

The main topic centered on the emerging “Cubic” cryptocurrency, which uses Monero merge-mining under the guise of “proof of useful work.” Arctic warned that if Cubic amasses significant hash rate, it could threaten Monero’s network security, similar to the 2018 ASIC attack, and suggested countermeasures like miner education and potential token sell-offs. The conversation also contrasted proof of stake’s flaws with proof of work’s resilience and concluded with updates on Monero’s full chain membership proofs—expected around 2026—which aim to improve fungibility despite larger transaction sizes and longer verification times, mitigated through parallel processing and hardware optimizations.

TIMESTAMPS:

(00:01:02) Arctic joins – updates on scaling work and personal projects.

(00:03:55) Samurai Wallet case – Money transmission fees, legal implications, and Tornado Cash parallels.

(00:22:51) Clarity Act – Regulatory protections for decentralized cryptocurrencies.

(00:23:29) Sterlingov case – Chain analysis validity and implications for Monero delisting.

(00:27:21) Transition to main topic – Cubic mining attack and proof of useful work concept.

(00:32:59) Historical context – 2018 Bitmain ASIC attack and community defense.

(00:40:21) Monitoring hash rates – Early indicators of potential attacks.

(00:43:09) Encouragement to mine at home – Defensive community mining efforts.

(00:44:01) History of Kryptonote and Bytecoin – Early Monero origins and attacks.

(00:48:02) Merge mining attacks – Risks and prevention approaches.

(00:54:29) Proof-of-Stake discussion – Short-selling risks and vulnerabilities.

(01:03:28) Preventing future attacks – Community awareness and decentralized pools.

(01:07:14) Full Chain Membership Proofs (FCMP) – Fungibility upgrade, scaling challenges, and verification improvements.

(01:10:49) Efficiency contests and progress – Ongoing optimizations for FCMP

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