Qubic Mining Recap (Epoch 171) - Warming Up the Engines

TL;DR: Epoch Summary:

• Earnings of $180.25K, with 459 XMR sold.

• 14,500 USDT, 22 XMR and 3.7B QUBIC retained for miner rewards.

• 65.9 billion QUBIC burned at an average of rate of $2,280 per B.

• 2.3 GH/s peak hashrate, reaching 45% of global Monero hashrate.

• 3496 total Monero blocks found.

• Qubic has approximately 3x profitability over Monero for miners.

• Historical overview charts provide a look into the evolution of Qubic / Monero mining.

• Outsourced Computation describe the roots and reasons for Monero PoC.

• Preparation for 51% “takeover” of Monero protocol are ongoing.

• Bot-nets on Monero network explained.

Revenue Snapshot

Qubic’s custom mining generated $180,250 in Monero earnings this epoch, selling 459 XMR into the market and retaining 14,500 USDT, 22 XMR and 3.7B QUBIC for bonus payout to the Computors/pools (explained below). The statistics for USD profits and QUBIC burn amounts have been influenced by a slight decline in Monero’s price and a sharp increase in QUBIC’s value.

With Qubic’s price dynamics at play, the average QUBIC burn rate was $2280 per B, amounting to 65.9 Billion QUBIC burned. As you will discover below, this past Epoch as well as the next ones are not “business as usual” for Qubic’s Monero PoC. This maybe our last report on Qubic buybacks/burns for a while.

Performance Highlights

A lot of changes happened during this epoch. Because of 64 nonce space upgrade, described below, several Qubic mining pools opened their full hashrate throughput capability. Several more large pools are yet to implement this function.

That said, this resulted in a sizable increase in the average and peak hashrates. The network’s peak hashrate reached 2.3 GH/s, accounting for over 45% of the total Monero network hashrate, increasing drastically from the previous epoch. This shows aggressive growth in compute contribution as the algorithm evolves to make CPU mining more efficient and profitable.

Qubic’s total Monero blocks found reached 3496, a remarkable testament to the network’s mining consistency and growing influence in the Monero ecosystem.

Profitability Against Peers

Qubic continues to be the most profitable CPU-mined coin. Below is the breakdown of the metrics maintained by our valued community member Eko in Qubic Discord.

Although the profitability is slightly less overall, it is still significantly higher than any other CPU-mined coin in the industry. The slight drop in profitability is attributed to almost doubling the number of miners on Qubic network in just one Epoch/week. Miner rewards are just like a pie. There is less going to every person as more people want some.

Historical Overview

Here’s a look at the historical data since Qubic launched its Monero proof of concept. It highlights the pace at which new ideas, logic, and protocol changes have driven progress to this point.

Outsourced Computations: The Roots of Monero Mining PoC

There have been many questions and confusion from both Monero and Qubic communities regarding the reasons for the mining initiative. 

This week we have published an article, which describes the reasons and goals of Monero proof of concept through custom mining. We encourage our readers to learn about Outsourced Computations to understand the bigger picture of what is happening between Qubic and Monero protocols.

Addressing 51% Monero Network Takeover Rumors

Let's now consider QUBIC's significant potential impact on the Monero protocol. It’s truly important to clarify that this isn't a hostile "takeover" designed to compromise Monero's inherent privacy features or to enable transaction reversals. Instead, this represents a strategic initiative to actively encourage existing Monero miners to solely utilize the highly decentralized QUBIC network for their operations.

Crucially, because QUBIC itself boasts hundreds of diverse and distributed miners, this approach fundamentally ensures Monero will demonstrably maintain its robust decentralization. Consequently, its core functionality for its users remains completely unaffected and fully secure.

To that end, QUBIC Computors, who serve as the network's validators, recently held a vital vote regarding specific actions. This vote addressed the scenario where QUBIC might attain 51% of the entire Monero network's total hashpower:

Do you (the Computors) want to start orphaning Monero blocks of other Monero miners when the Qubic contribution to Monero network exceeds 51% of the total hashrate?

An entity controlling 51% or more of the hashrate of a PoW cryptocurrency has an option of earning 100% of the emission (and fees) by making blocks mined by the others orphaned.

Qubic computors may increase their revenue (and revenue of their miners) should the:

• Quorum choose this course of action for Monero.

• In such case the other actors will get the following benefits:

• Monero users - reduced fees (even zero fees if there is enough block room) as a tribute to Qubic’s feelessness;

• Monero miners - increased revenue, because mining Qubic is more profitable than mining Monero;

• Monero pool operators - chance to integrate into the Qubic ecosystem and expand their userbase by adopting existing Qubic miners;

• General cryptocommunity - practical test of a 51% attack and possibility to analyze its impact on XMR price, which we believe won’t be negative.

The clear outcome of this community decision is that only those who mine Monero through the QUBIC network or its associated pools will be eligible for and receive the block rewards. Conversely, those who continue to mine Monero independently or through non-Qubic pools will simply not get rewards for their discovered blocks, thereby directing incentives.

This will also significantly boost Qubic miner profitability. After the “takeover,” the full block reward emissions from the Monero network will supplement Qubic’s own emissions, effectively doubling the incentive for miners.

Warming Up the Engines for 51% Takeover

Following Qubic’s impressive Monero mining performance during the past Epoch, it's now evident the protocol commands sufficient computing power to potentially achieve a 51% "takeover" of the Monero network. This significant development was highlighted by Qubic’s creator, CFB, who posted about it over the weekend, garnering considerable attention.

Come-from-Beyond @c___f___b
Dear $XMR holders, the #Qubic team is unable to contact every single service accepting #Monero coins, please, inform the exchanges and the other relevant entities that from the 2nd of August, 12:00 UTC to the 31st of August, 12:00 UTC it is STRONGLY recommended to accept $XMR payments only after having at least 13 confirmations. During this period a lot of orphan blocks may be generated (subject to http://qubic.org pool hashrate).
02.08.2025 - 31.08.2025, 13 confirmations.

Subsequently, a notable shift in strategy was announced within the Qubic Discord community. The rules and profit distribution from Monero mining will be changed to specifically encourage a higher hashrate. 

Through a community vote on Qubic Discord, it was decided that in the future, Monero mining profits will be directly distributed to the Computors / pools rather than being used for the usual QUBIC buybacks and burns. This new incentive aims to significantly increase the profitability for Monero miners operating through Qubic pools, thereby attracting more hashpower.

Come-from-Beyond
During a pump it doesn't make much sense to buy and burn qus because the price boost will be below the noise level. On the other hand, investing into incentives boosting our Monero-related marketing may bring much higher dividends in the near future. As a community member, do you agree to keep paying the mined XMR to the computors proportional to their XMR points after 51% domination activation as long as in the end of an epoch the price is higher than in its beginning?

1️⃣ Agree
2️⃣ Disagree

In another preparatory move, Qubic pools are now entering stealth mode ahead of the planned takeover. This update was shared by the lead developer of the Qubic/Monero initiative, @dkat, on Qubic Discord:

dkat
As plan, we go stealth mode. I'm gonna change mining address now (will reveal key at the end of epoch 172).
Footprint on tari block will be removed.
Stats API is not published anymore. devs please ping JT for auth key. Please prepare all kinds of banner/ads you want to show the world, don't forget the web counter.

We'll soon see the full effect of these preparations and will be sure to report the results to you. But this, in turn, may be the end of buybacks/burns reports from yours truly.

Botnets vs Qubic Monero Mining

The issue with botnets is significant and well-known within the Monero mining community (https://bitcoinblog.de/2024/06/05/largest-crackdown-against-botnets-by-europol-monero-hashrate-drops-significantly/). Botnets frequently control large portions of Monero’s RandomX hashrate due to their ability to leverage compromised machines at essentially zero electricity cost, undermining honest miners who genuinely support the network.

Recently, these botnet operators have attempted targeted DDoS attacks against Qubic’s mining pools. The likely motivation behind these attacks is resistance to our Qubic’s new dominance, as Qubic mining provides significantly higher profitability compared to Monero. As legitimate miners increasingly migrate towards Qubic, botnet operators are confronted with difficulties due to Qubic’s algorithmic complexity and security measures, making their usual tactics less effective.

CfB and other experienced sysadmins  have repeatedly highlighted that botnet operators are currently frustrated and actively trying to disrupt our infrastructure. However, these attacks have largely failed due to strong countermeasures and proactive management from Qubic’s teams.

Our stance is clear: by providing a secure, highly profitable, and transparent mining environment, Qubic is naturally undermining botnet profitability. Honest miners benefit greatly, while botnet operators are increasingly forced out. This proactive approach makes Qubic inherently resistant and serves as a significant deterrent against the misuse and abuse seen commonly in Monero mining pools dominated by botnets.

Conclusion

At Qubic, we are highly enthusiastic about the future, driven by the unique innovations within our protocol. Unlike other chains, Qubic features a distinctive model never before applied in the blockchain industry. Our recent efforts in Monero mining serve as a successful proof of concept for our technology. This demonstration shows how Qubic's Outsourced Computations can be used for practical tasks beyond just network security, and it's a strong signal of what's to come. We encourage everyone to pay close attention to our ongoing developments.

Learn More & Get Involved

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