Qubic, the controversial AI-focused crypto project, is eyeing a shift to mining Dogecoin (DOGE) after wrapping up operations on Monero (XMR), the privacy-centric blockchain network.
In a recent development on Aug. 17, Qubic Network founder Sergey Ivancheglo revealed a Discord screenshot indicating that the community had opted to focus on mining Dogecoin in the upcoming season.
This move came following a proposal from Ivancheglo, allowing the community to choose the next ASIC-enabled proof-of-work (PoW) blockchain for the network to prioritize, with Dogecoin emerging as the popular choice with approximately 301 votes.
If Qubic transitions to mining DOGE, it could potentially garner more attention than it did during its Monero mining operations. Recently, Qubic gained significant control over Monero’s hashrate, causing Kraken to temporarily halt XMR deposits due to concerns of a 51% network attack.
The Rise of Dogecoin
Originally launched as a joke in 2013, Dogecoin has since become a prominent player in the cryptocurrency market.
The coin saw a surge in popularity after Elon Musk mentioned it multiple times on social media, propelling DOGE to become a top-10 crypto asset with a market cap surpassing $33 billion.
However, mining Dogecoin has become increasingly competitive over time, with major Bitcoin miners like BIT Mining reaping substantial profits from DOGE mining activities.
Current data from CoinWarz indicates that Dogecoin’s network hash rate is at 2.93 PH/s, offering miners an average daily profit potential of around $21 per unit of mining power.
Given this scenario, Ivancheglo stressed that preparations for Dogecoin mining will be a lengthy process, with the Qubic pool continuing to mine Monero during the transition period.
Profitability of Dogecoin Mining
While specific network-wide earnings are not publicly disclosed, a rough estimate suggests that Dogecoin miners collectively earned between $0.84 billion to $1.02 billion over the past year.
Using calculations based on Dogecoin’s issuance rate and an assumed average price, the estimated daily profit stands at around $2.304 million, which equates to approximately $841 million annually.
Factoring in a revenue-per-hash snapshot and the network hashrate, the potential daily revenue translates to around $2.808 million, or roughly $1.025 billion yearly.
These figures, though gross and subject to fluctuations in price and hashrate, provide insight into the significant revenue potential that Qubic is aiming for.
Qubic’s Vision
Ivancheglo clarified that the goal of his AI project is to repurpose the energy-intensive PoW computations of these blockchains for artificial intelligence applications.
He stated, “A lot of electricity is consumed for pointless PoW, which we believe would be better utilized for AI. While these concepts may seem abstract now, they will make sense in the future.”
Qubic has developed a unique “useful proof-of-work” system that channels mining energy into productive computation tasks to advance AI research, moving away from solving meaningless puzzles typical of traditional PoW systems.
This approach aims to drive energy towards practical applications and AI model training, aligning with Qubic’s overarching objective of developing Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).
The article was originally published on CryptoSlate.
