What is Useful Proof-of-Work (UPOW)?

Fifteen years ago, Bitcoin introduced Proof-of-Work (PoW): miners burned electricity solving mathematical puzzles; the fastest won new coins and, by extension, secured the ledger. It was brilliant, but the world has changed. Energy prices are rising, regulators monitor carbon footprints as much as blockchains, and AI labs complain about the lack of affordable computing power. In this context, the original PoW feels a bit like burning fuel to run an empty engine. Qubic offers a simple solution: since the electricity bill is already paid, let’s use that energy for tasks useful to society. The Useful Proof-of-Work (uPoW) still protects the chain, but miners earn their living by training AI models and merge-mining Monero with real value, then directly reinject the earnings into the Qubic economy.

The big idea in one table

How it works (story first, technical later)

Time in Qubic is divided into week-long epochs. Thousands of miners group into informal teams around candidates called Computors. All week long, these teams share their CPU cores between two tasks:

1. Train neural networks – improve image or language models.
2. Run RandomX – Monero’s CPU-friendly mining algorithm.

Both tasks produce chain-verifiable scores, serving as cryptographic proof. At the end of the epoch, the top 676 Computors access validator seats for the next round and share rewards.

The clever financial mechanism

1. Teams’ Monero earnings are deposited into a contract.
2. The contract swaps XMR for USDT, then uses this stablecoin to buy QUBIC on the market.
3. The purchased QUBIC is burned on-chain, permanently reducing supply.

Security, miners’ income, and deflation all come from the same electricity source.

A week in the life of a new miner

Meet Alice, a student with a mid-range Ryzen laptop. She installs the open-source miner Qli Pool, limits CPU usage to 60% to keep her computer responsive, then forgets about it. Her free cores work: 60% training an image recognition model, 40% hashing RandomX for Monero.

Monday morning, the epoch ends. Alice’s team ranks 404th, a respectable score for a first week. Instantly, an on-chain routine converts her share of XMR to USDT, buys QUBIC, and burns it. Her wallet rings: +X QUBIC. The block explorer shows a total supply reduced by the same amount. No spreadsheets, no fee anxiety: just plug-and-earn while finishing her classes.

Why beginners should care

• Useful energy – Every kilowatt brings value: smarter AI or new XMR, no empty hashes.
• Ecological view – Regulators prefer “productive computation” over simple security costs.
• Built-in scarcity – Constant buy & burn benefits holders instead of dilution.
• Accessible hardware – A three-year-old laptop really works; no ASIC war needed.
• Scalable design – Any task providing verifiable proof (protein folding, CGI rendering, weather) can later be integrated into uPoW.

Need help? The Discord server answers newcomers’ questions within minutes.

Final thought

Bitcoin proved that energy can buy decentralized security. Qubic demonstrates that the same energy can buy security and something useful for the outside world. Whether that utility is better AI, Monero maintenance, or future breakthroughs, the principle is clear: every CPU cycle must count double. For beginners, that means learning crypto, supporting live AI tasks, and participating in a deflationary economy with hardware you already own.

La Rédaction C.

The Cointribune editorial team unites its voices to address topics related to cryptocurrencies, investment, the metaverse, and NFTs, while striving to answer your questions as best as possible.