The world of cryptocurrencies is never short of dramatic events. In mid-August, the leading privacy coin Monero (XMR) faced a thrilling computing power crisis - the Qubic project, led by former IOTA co-founder, controlled over 50% of its computing power, causing industry shock. Even more concerning is that Qubic has set its sights on the next target, Dogecoin (DOGE), which has a market value exceeding $35 billion.

1. The protagonist appears: Monero and Qubic's 'technical genes'

Monero (XMR): As a representative of privacy coins, it stands on two major 'treasures' - one is the RandomX algorithm optimized for CPUs, resisting ASIC mining machine monopolies, ensuring decentralization; the other is technologies like ring signatures and stealth addresses, which keep both parties and amounts anonymous throughout the transaction, making blockchain analysis essentially untraceable.

Qubic project: Created by former IOTA co-founder Sergey Ivancheglo, focusing on 'useful proof of work (uPoW)'. In simple terms, it does not want computing power wasted on meaningless hash calculations but rather used for practical tasks like AI training. More crucially, it has designed a 'mining arbitrage' model: miners mine Monero, convert the earned XMR into stablecoins, with half used to buy back and destroy Qubic tokens (QUBIC) and half directly rewarded to miners. This high yield (at its peak, it was 3 times that of solo mining Monero) attracted a large number of miners to 'switch sides'.

2. The entire attack process: From soaring computing power to block reorganization

The attack on Qubic was not an overnight event, but rather a 'boiling frog' type of gradual erosion of computing power:

Buildup phase: In May 2023, Qubic mining pool's computing power share in the Monero network was less than 2%; however, after launching mining incentives in June, the computing power surged, exceeding 25% by the end of July, becoming the number one in the network.

Offensive and defensive game: After the Monero community became alert, they called on miners to shift to other mining pools and even initiated DDoS attacks, temporarily causing Qubic's computing power to plummet.

Fatal blow: On August 11, Qubic launched 'selfish mining' - secretly hiding the mined blocks, and once a certain number was accumulated, suddenly releasing a long chain, resulting in Monero experiencing a 6-block deep reorganization, with about 60 blocks becoming 'orphaned'. At this point, Qubic had already controlled over 51% of the computing power, theoretically able to alter transactions and perform double spending.

3. Industry shock: Controversy and self-rescue

Community anger: Monero supporters criticized Qubic for undermining decentralization and suspected it was promoting its own token through attacks (during the incident, the price of QUBIC rose against the trend).

Emergency response: The exchange Kraken suspended Monero deposits to prevent risks; a large number of miners flocked to decentralized mining pools, diluting Qubic's computing power. By August 17, Qubic's computing power share had receded, temporarily stabilizing the Monero network.

Motivation controversy: Qubic claimed this was a 'security experiment' to help Monero test risks, but most people believe its essence is 'computing power hijacking', relying on Monero's profits to inflate the value of its own token.

4. Subsequent hidden dangers: Dogecoin becomes the next target

The storm has not yet settled, and the Qubic community has voted to decide that the next attack target is Dogecoin. This means that PoW coins with higher market values may also face similar risks - as long as there are sufficiently enticing economic incentives, substantial computing power can be leveraged. This serves as a reminder to the entire cryptocurrency industry: computing power security is not just a technical issue, but also an economic game.

This farce exposed a loophole in PoW networks: when 'interests' are significant enough, the decentralized defenses can be easily breached. The question now is whether Dogecoin can avoid a disaster? The entire industry is watching.

Disclaimer: The content described in this article is for reference only and does not constitute any investment advice. Investors should rationally view cryptocurrency investments based on their own risk tolerance and investment goals, and not blindly follow trends.