Epoch 174 Recap – Adding Pressure

TL;DR: Epoch Summary:

• Qubic continues Monero experiment, resulting in eight blocks being orphaned.

• Approximately 756 XMR were mined.

• Mined Monero was sold, 86 Billion QUBIC has been purchased from the market at an average price of 2800 per Billion totaling $241,000. Purchased QUBIC was burned / removed from the circulating supply.

• A total of 6766 Monero blocks were found.

• Qubic had its first Halving, reducing the miner rewards and reducing the weekly sell pressure.

• The 51% Monero experiment is still ongoing.

What's Shaking Up the World of Qubic Mining?

The world of crypto mining is always buzzing with new developments, and the last few weeks have been no exception for the Qubic community. From record-high profitability to heated mining marathons and a significant halving event, there's a lot to unpack. Here's a look at what's been happening in the Qubic ecosystem.

Qubic's Profitability Soars While Monero's Dips

For a while now, Qubic miners have been enjoying a period of high profitability, a trend that's been in stark contrast to the declining profits seen in Monero mining. This impressive performance is thanks to two key factors: an aggressive increase in the price of Qubic and generous bonuses paid out to miners from the profits generated by Monero mining.

The strategy has been highly effective, drawing more miners to the Qubic network and creating a compelling reason for them to stick around.

The weekly rewards system means miners get rewarded with a bonus based on performance. Depending on conditions, weekly mined $QUBIC is sometimes burned instead. This is why there is some variation in profitability from one week to another.

Monero Mining Marathons: A Fight for Hashrate

Qubic recently wrapped up another "Epoch," or mining period, and the marathons were intense. For three days, Qubic pointed its immense mining capacity toward the Monero protocol. Because of the significant difference in profitability between the two, Qubic has been able to attract an even larger Hashrate, the total computational power used to mine a cryptocurrency.

This increase was evident in the higher amount of Monero mined and the large spikes in hashrate during the first marathon on Thursday, August 15th.

However, the second marathon on Saturday, August 16th, got a little "spicy." The network faced DDoS attacks from botnets and even threats against the founder. If you compare the hashrate charts, the impact of these attacks is clear.

Despite the DDoS attacks, Qubic managed to orphan eight blocks, which is a risky development for both Qubic and Monero. This is getting into uncomfortable territory because it raises the risk of double-spending, where a malicious actor could exploit the situation to spend the same coins twice. Qubic’s goal is to avoid this at all costs.

The Halving: Less Reward, Less Sell Pressure

On Wednesday, August 20th, Qubic went through a significant halving event. This means that at the end of each Epoch, miners will now receive only half of the Qubic rewards they used to.

While this will reduce profitability, it's a strategic move that also removes a lot of the sell pressure from the market. The halving makes the coin more scarce and can lead to an increase in value over time.

Even with the halving, mining Qubic will continue to be far more profitable than mining Monero directly. As a result, the migration of miners from Monero to Qubic is expected to continue.

The Next Frontier: DOGE Mining?

The Qubic community recently voted in a poll to decide the next potential mining target, and Dogecoin (DOGE) was the winner. While the community is excited about the prospect of mining DOGE, it's not going to happen overnight. Integrating a new protocol is a resource-intensive process for the Qubic’s mining pools.

For now, the focus will remain on mining Monero for profit while the integration of Dogecoin is in progress.

It’s clear that the Qubic network is constantly evolving and adapting. The halving event marks a new phase, and with the potential for DOGE mining on the horizon, the future looks busy.