The controversial AI-focused crypto project Qubic has suggested it may mine Dogecoin (DOGE), the largest memecoin, after completing its current operations on Monero (XMR), the privacy-focused blockchain network.

On Aug. 17, Qubic Network founder Sergey Ivancheglo shared a Discord screenshot showing that the community voted to target Dogecoin for the upcoming mining season.

This decision followed a proposal from Ivancheglo inviting the community to select which ASIC-enabled proof-of-work (PoW) blockchain the network should prioritize next.

The options included Dogecoin, Kaspa, Zcash, and other ASIC-mined coins. Dogecoin emerged as the clear winner, securing around 301 votes, more than all other options combined.

If Qubic begins mining DOGE, it could gain more notoriety than during its Monero operations. Last week, Qubic claimed control of most of Monero’s hashrate, which led Kraken to temporarily suspend XMR deposits amid reports of a 51% network attack.

Dogecoin mining

Dogecoin, launched in 2013 as a joke, has evolved into a major player in the crypto market.

The coin gained widespread attention after Elon Musk highlighted it several times on X (formerly Twitter), helping DOGE grow into a top-10 crypto asset with a market capitalization exceeding $33 billion.

However, mining DOGE would be far from straightforward. Competition in the space has intensified over the years, with major Bitcoin miners such as BIT Mining generating significant revenue from Dogecoin mining.

According to CoinWarz data, Dogecoin’s network hash rate currently stands at 2.93 PH/s, offering miners potential profits of roughly $21 per day per unit of mining power.

Due to this, Ivancheglo emphasized that preparations for mining DOGE will take months, with the Qubic pool continuing to mine Monero during this period.

Dogecoin mining profitability

While precise network-wide figures aren’t published, a back-of-the-envelope estimate suggests Dogecoin miners collectively earned in the ballpark of $0.84–$1.02 billion over the last 12 months.

Using Dogecoin’s issuance math (≈1,440 blocks/day × 10,000 DOGE) and an average price assumption of ~$0.16 implies roughly $2.304 million/day (≈$841 million/year).

Cross-checking with a revenue-per-hash snapshot of ~$1.08 per GH/s against an aggregate network hashrate near ~2.6 PH/s (≈2,600,000 GH/s) yields about $2.808 million/day (≈$1.025 billion/year).

These are gross figures (fees are small, electricity and opex excluded) and will vary with DOGE price and hashrate swings, but they frame the scale of potential revenue Qubic is eyeing.

Qubic’s goal

Ivancheglo explained that his AI project targets these PoW blockchains to redirect energy-intensive proof-of-work computations toward artificial intelligence applications.

According to him:

“A lot of electricity is burned for useless PoW, we need that electricity for AI. These words may be hard to get and I cannot reveal more now, in the future they will eventually click.”

Notably, Qubic has developed a “useful proof-of-work” system that turns crypto mining energy into productive computation. Instead of solving meaningless puzzles like traditional PoW, the network spreads tasks across miners to advance artificial intelligence research.

According to the project, this method directs energy toward real-world outcomes and helps train AI models, which supports its long-term goal of creating Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).

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Qubic, a project led by former IOTA co-founder Sergey Ivancheglo, says it has secured more than 51% of Monero’s global hashrate, a milestone that, if true, gives it the ability to reorganize blocks, censor transactions, and attempt double-spends on the privacy-focused blockchain.

Ivancheglo framed the move as a stress test to help the Monero community prepare for future network threats, but the announcement has triggered sharp debate among developers and security experts.

A 51% attack occurs when a single entity or coordinated group controls a majority of a proof-of-work network’s hashrate. Ethereum Classic suffered multiple reorganizations in 2020, resulting in millions of dollars in losses, while Bitcoin Gold faced similar assaults in 2018 and 2020.

Smaller networks like Verge have also been targeted, demonstrating how concentrated hashing power can destabilize and entire cryptocurrency network.

Monero, which uses the CPU-friendly RandomX algorithm, has long prided itself on resisting ASIC centralization. Qubic’s “useful proof-of-work” (uPoW) model repurposes Monero mining rewards by converting XMR into USDT, then using the proceeds to buy and burn QUBIC tokens, a deflationary mechanism that doubles as a liquidity sink for its own ecosystem.

From mid-May to late July, Qubic’s share of the network jumped from less than 2% to over 25%, at times topping pool rankings.

Ledger CTO Charles Guillemet warned on X that Monero “appears to be in the midst of a successful 51% attack,” citing signs of a major chain reorganization, with several other industry experts like SlowMist founder Yu Xian expressing their doubt over Qubic’s economics.

Whether the events mark a hostile takeover or simply a stress test, XMR has responded negatively, dropping by 6.65% in the past 24 hours to compound a 16% decline over the past week.

Read more: How $330M BTC Hacker May Have Doubled Down on Monero Derivatives

The privacy-focused cryptocurrency Monero has suffered a major disruption, with 60 mined blocks discarded from its blockchain in the past 24 hours amid an ongoing attempted 51% attack by the Qubic network.

The Monero Consensus Status dashboard shows Monero saw 60 orphaned blocks (valid blocks that were rejected) in the last 720 blocks. The disruption comes amid an ongoing economic attack by the Qubic network, incentivizing selfish mining.

Qubic miners redirect their computing power to mine Monero (XMR) and sell the proceeds to buy and burn Qubic tokens, while being paid in QUBIC. Qubic miners reportedly earn more than Monero miners under this setup.

The attack has sparked fears of a possible “51% attack” — a rare and serious event that can let attackers rewrite transactions or block them entirely.

An orphaned block is a valid block excluded from the main chain because another competing block at the same height was accepted first. In selfish mining, a miner with significant hashrate withholds blocks and publishes them strategically to overtake the public chain, causing honest miners’ work to be discarded.

As of the time of writing, Monero’s price stands at over $247, down over 8.6% from the price of over $276 reported 24 hours ago.

Qubic attack disrupts Monero network

Qubic’s Monero mining pool openly engages in selfish mining, with Qubic founder Sergey Ivancheglo admitting it in an X post. Ivancheglo claimed in a Tuesday X post that “Qubic has achieved 51% over Monero” and the team is “waiting for independent confirmations.”

Related: 51% attack on Ethereum more difficult than on Bitcoin — Justin Drake

A 51% attack occurs when a single entity — in this case, the Qubic mining pool — controls over half of a blockchain network’s mining power or stake, allowing them to manipulate transactions. Zhong Chenming, the co-founder of crypto cybersecurity firm SlowMist, said in a Tuesday X post that “this time the 51% attack on Monero seems to have succeeded.” He added:

“The cost was also high, and it’s unclear what the economic benefits of doing this are in the end… In theory, the Qubic mining pool can now rewrite the blockchain, achieve double-spending, and censor any transactions.”

Not everyone is convinced

Doubts remain around whether a successful 51% attack occurred. Engaging in selfish mining with control over a high percentage of the hashrate that is short of the majority can occasionally lead to orphaned blocks.

Monero’s total hashrate evaluation by CoinWarz results in a 5 GH/s estimation. Unverified data provided by Qubic claims a peak hashrate of 3.01 GH/s, which is more than sufficient, and a current hashrate of 2.08 GH/s, insufficient for a 51% attack.

The Monero Consensus Status also indicates that the number of blocks mined by unknown mining pools and solo miners — the category which includes Qubic — reached nearly 30% on Aug. 11. This could signal Qubic controlling most of the hashrate for a brief period, or controlling a significant portion but still a minority of the hashrate.

SeraiDEX’s lead developer, Luke Parker, raised an issue with reports that a 51% attack took place in a separate X post. He noted that a six-block-deep network reorganization with block orphaning “does not mean a ‘51% attack’ was successful.”

“It does mean an adversary with a high amount of hash got lucky,” he added.

Related: Coin Metrics research shows BTC and ETH are immune to 51% attacks

Hack war escalates between networks

Qubic and Monero are locked in an ongoing hack war, trading countermeasures. Ivancheglo previously wrote on X that Monero broke Qubic’s selfish mining system, prompting his fix. Before that, Ivancheglo accused a developer of Monero mining software XMRig, Sergei Chernykh, of denial-of-service (DDoS) attackg Qubic’s pool, leading to hashrate losses — a claim Chernykh disputes.

The attack first started in late July when the community noticed what it described as an “economic attack.” The operation uses economic incentives — paying Qubic miners more than Monero miners — in an attempt to take control over most of Monero’s hashrate and consequently the network.

Niko Demchuk, head of legal at onchain forensics firm AMLBot, told Cointelegraph that Qubic’s attack on Monero could be deemed “computer sabotage” or “unauthorized access” under Belarusian and European Union laws. However, no statute explicitly mentions 51% attacks. Demchuk said Belarus’ cybercrime rules could apply if blockchain manipulation disrupts protected systems.

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