Introducing Qubic: Community-Driven, Harnessing GPU and CPU Power to Build AI Models
Original Source: Frontier Lab
Qubic is a community-driven project that harnesses the computing power of GPU and CPU miners to support the development of the AI model Aigarth by building artificial neural networks (ANNs). Simultaneously, this computing power also protects the Qubic blockchain through a Byzantine consensus protocol.
Project Basic Information
Operating Model
The core of the Qubic network is supported by 676 computers responsible for executing smart contracts (commonly nodes in a blockchain), requiring a consensus of 2/3 (451 computers) to determine the final result, ensuring reliability. Unlike traditional public chains, Qubic's POW system can utilize mining power for AI training. Each epoch (7 days) generates 1 trillion Qubic tokens (QUBIC), which are distributed among the 676 computers.
Unlike other blockchains, Qubic network arbitrators rank the weekly scores based on the solutions provided by miners, identifying the top 451 performing computers, which will maintain their status, while the remaining 225 slots are filled by candidates and lower-ranked computers each period. The rewards and node fees of eliminated computers may be confiscated.
The Qubic network operates similarly to the Bittensor network, with token rewards primarily used to incentivize miners providing computing power for AI models. Both are upgrades to the Bitcoin concept, which has long been criticized for consuming vast computing resources for network protection. Qubic and Bittensor integrate AI concepts into the POW mining network, making computing power "useful." The operational mechanisms of the three are compared in Figure 1-1.
Founder
The Qubic project was initiated by renowned blockchain developer Sergey Ivancheglo. Sergey Ivancheglo is one of the founders (core developers) of IOTA and is well-known in the blockchain industry. He is known by the pseudonym CFB (come from beyond) and is also the creator of the first POS cryptocurrency, NXT. IOTA originated from the NXT community, and Sergey Ivancheglo has profound expertise in various programming languages such as Assembly, BASIC, C, C#, HTML, Java, JavaScript, Pascal, Python, and SQL.
Sergey Ivancheglo began developing the Qubic project in 2019, and it has been ongoing for five years. Given Sergey Ivancheglo's long-term dedication to this project, the Qubic project appears to have more potential compared to other blockchain projects.
Decentralization Tendency
Qubic is driven by community governance, similar to other community-governed projects, and its daily proposal decisions involve the following steps:
1. Idea: Any member of the Qubic community can propose changes or new features and share the idea with the entire community for consideration.
2. Discussion: Community members can discuss the idea, ask questions, and provide feedback. The proposer can modify the idea based on the feedback received.
3. Proposal: After thorough discussion, the idea can evolve into a formal proposal. The proposal includes all feedback and revisions from the community discussion. It provides a detailed action plan, clearly explaining what the change or new feature is and how it will be implemented.
4. Voting: Once the proposal is finalized, a vote is conducted. A quorum must participate in the vote for it to be valid, typically requiring 2/3 (451) of the 676 computers to agree for the proposal to be considered passed.
5. Implementation: If the proposal receives majority support in the vote, it is accepted and enters the implementation phase. If not, it is either modified for further consideration or discarded.
In the Qubic ecosystem, the most powerful governance role is the arbitrator, officially declared as the entity responsible for resolving disputes and protecting user interests. According to public information, arbitrators fulfill the role of a foundation in traditional blockchain projects, with the following powers:
· Arbitrators set the parameters of the mining algorithm, which to some extent contradicts the concept of decentralized governance in blockchain, raising concerns about the overall decentralization of the Qubic project;
· Each epoch, underperforming computers are eliminated, and their QUBIC token rewards may be confiscated. This mechanism has helped arbitrators accumulate 1 trillion QUBIC (currently valued at $4 million, accounting for 1% of the total circulating supply);
· Arbitrators have the final say in resolving community disputes.
Each node individually selects its arbitrator by setting the corresponding ID in Qubic.cpp. The entity controlling the current arbitration panel remains unknown, but rumors suggest it is operated by the development team. The arbitration panel did not hold any tokens during the token issuance process; all tokens were produced through mining, alleviating concerns about excessive centralization of the project.
Qubic has no pre-mining or venture capital involvement.
From the above analysis, it can be seen that the Qubic project adopts an open proposal mechanism, allowing anyone to submit proposals, with the miner community deciding whether to implement them. However, arbitrators hold excessive power in project governance, which cannot completely eliminate concerns about the high centralization of the Qubic project.
Development Strength
Due to the lack of publicly available specific roadmap and phased goals for the Qubic project, we can only analyze and evaluate based on the disclosed data:
· The mainnet has been operational since April 2022;
· The community has 630,000 members;
· The number of miners exceeds 100,000;
From the above public data, it can be seen that the Qubic project's mainnet operation remains stable, and the core development team has excellent technical strength in the blockchain field. Despite the lack of complete official information, the existing data preliminarily shows that the Qubic project has achieved certain progress and results.
Project Model
Business Model
In addition to the traditional roles of miners and arbitrators, the Qubic network also involves the following business participants:
AI Model Users: Use the AI software Aigarth running on Qubic to solve problems;
Blockchain Users: Use the Qubic blockchain network for transactions and smart contracts;
Smart Contract Publishers: Smart contract publishers in the Qubic network do not exclusively enjoy contract profits but share profits based on the shares obtained during the IPO, reflecting the decentralized nature of smart contracts; (detailed below)
Smart Contract Shareholders: Investors who actually enjoy the profits of smart contracts;
Oracle Machines: Provide trusted external data (such as stock prices) and connect the blockchain network with computers;
The specific business processes of how various roles participate in network activities are shown in Figure 2-1.
From a business process perspective, Qubic and Bittensor projects indeed have many similarities. However, there are also some differences in specific business development:
· AI Business Development Perspective: Qubic has only one AI model, Aigarth, while Bittensor has 32 different AI models. From the perspective of AI business development, Bittensor has more advantages and is more likely to succeed.
· Blockchain Business Development Perspective: Compared to Bittensor, Qubic has core blockchain functions such as smart contract execution, while Bittensor currently lacks smart contract execution capabilities. Qubic tokens also have a burning mechanism, while Bittensor tokens only have a staking model. From the perspective of blockchain business development, Qubic has more advantages.
Qubic's smart contracts run on high-performance computers, promising sub-second finality and excellent operational speed. This not only allows developers to create more efficient decentralized applications (dApps) but also expands the potential for real-time, interactive dApps.
In summary, Qubic and Bittensor each have their strengths and weaknesses in business development. Bittensor excels in AI model services, while Qubic is superior in blockchain functionality and token design.
IPO Issuance Mechanism of Smart Contracts
Qubic's smart contracts are built using the C++ language, without the need for a specialized programming language. Compared to the issuance methods of smart contracts on other blockchains, Qubic network smart contract issuance has many unique features, as shown in Table 2-1:
In the Qubic network, the issuance and revenue attribution method of smart contracts can be seen as a major innovation in the blockchain industry. In traditional blockchain projects, the publisher of a smart contract often enjoys all the revenue generated by the contract. This model has a certain centralization tendency, which contradicts the decentralized concept of blockchain. In the Qubic network, the revenue from smart contracts is not solely enjoyed by the publisher but is distributed according to the share proportions obtained during the IPO. This approach reflects Qubic network's pursuit of decentralization, fully realizing the fair distribution of smart contract revenues.
The innovative model of smart contract issuance and revenue distribution in the Qubic network can be seen as a classic embodiment of the spirit of decentralization in the blockchain industry. This approach not only demonstrates Qubic project's devout pursuit of the decentralization concept but also provides useful references for the future development of the entire industry.
The following briefly introduces the operation method of IPO in the Qubic network:
1. Creating Shares: Using Qubic's smart contract technology, digital assets (such as shares of a DEX) are created. These assets are unique and can be tracked on the Qubic blockchain.
2. Public Issuance: Digital shares are opened to the public, just like a traditional IPO. These shares represent the project's shares and may provide certain rights to the holders. The shares related to smart contracts are auctioned using the Dutch auction model.
3. Purchase and Trading of Shares: Participants on the network can use QU to purchase these shares. Once purchased, these shares can be traded on the Qubic network.
It is worth noting that the QUBIC tokens used to purchase smart contract shares will be completely destroyed, which is the largest scenario for token destruction in the token model. For example, the first smart contract QX (the first DEX in the Qubic network) destroyed over 101.8 trillion QUBIC, accounting for about 15% of the total circulation at that time, indicating the potential deflationary possibility of QUBIC through the smart contract issuance mechanism on Qubic.
"Free" Transfers
Qubic is one of the few Layer-1 blockchains that do not charge transfer transaction fees.
During the execution of smart contracts on the Qubic network, the contract initiator needs to pay a certain amount of QUBIC tokens as a fee. These paid QUBIC tokens will be directly destroyed rather than flowing into the hands of miners or other participants.
Considering the above characteristics, it can be said that the Qubic network provides users with completely free services. This model breaks through the limitations of traditional blockchains charging on-chain transaction fees, reflecting Qubic's innovation in optimizing user experience.
Oracle Machines
The Oracle machines in the Qubic network are not only information routers within the network but also bridges between smart contracts and real-world data. They enable smart contracts to interact with external information through the Qubic Protocol Interface (QPI) and query real-world data.
When smart contracts use Oracle machines to obtain external data, they need to pay QUBIC tokens, and the paid tokens will be completely destroyed.
Aigarth
Aigarth is a pioneering project to be developed on the Qubic network. It combines the fields of artificial intelligence and distributed computing to create a collective system for solving complex AI tasks. Aigarth is currently under development, and more information is not available.
Users need to pay QUBIC tokens when using the Aigarth model to solve problems, and the paid tokens will be completely destroyed.
Token Model
The token of the Qubic project is QUBIC, with a circulation cap of 1,000 trillion tokens. Every 7 days, 1 trillion tokens are issued and distributed to computers. If the circulation of QUBIC reaches 999 trillion, a plan to destroy 1 trillion QUBIC every week as execution fees will be initiated to ensure that 1 trillion tokens can be issued to computers every 7 days.
The current total circulation is 94,000 tokens, with a trading price of $0.00000537 and a market cap of $506,944,519. (Data source: QUBCI blockchain explorer)
QUBIC has not been listed on any major exchanges, and the daily trading volume is low, making the current price generally less referential.
Potential Deflation Mechanism
The issuance mechanism of QUBIC only includes the issuance of 1 trillion tokens every 7 days, and the new tokens are generated through mining by computers, so the supply quantity (Supply-Total) remains unchanged.
There are destruction mechanisms for tokens in many scenarios:
· Smart contract IPO (Burn-1);
· Smart contract execution fees (Burn-2);
· Smart contract use of Oracle machines (Burn-3);
· User use of Aigarth model (Burn-4);
When Supply-Total > Burn-1 + Burn-2 + Burn-3 + Burn-4, the token circulation is in an inflationary state; when Supply-Total < Burn-1 + Burn-2 + Burn-3 + Burn-4, the token circulation is in a deflationary state.
Two factors can drive QUBIC tokens into a deflationary state:
· The scale of smart contract IPOs surges;
· The quality of the Aigarth model is at the top of the AI industry, and the destruction quantity brought by model use grows rapidly;
As long as either of the above two factors occurs, it is possible to push QUBIC tokens into a deflationary state. Challenges to achieving deflation include:
· Slow review mechanism for smart contract releases: Each smart contract needs to be reviewed before release, which may lead to slow release speeds, limiting the network's activity and growth.
· Smart contract revenue-sharing mechanism affects development motivation: Qubic requires that the revenue of each smart contract must be distributed according to the share proportions at the time of the IPO. Even the founding developer of the contract needs to purchase shares to obtain revenue. This mechanism may reduce developers' entrepreneurial motivation, contrary to traditional business concepts.
Qubic has introduced some "challenging" mechanism designs in its pursuit of decentralization, which may affect the project's development speed and attractiveness to some extent.
Indivisible Nature of Tokens
QUBIC tokens have an indivisible nature, with the smallest unit being 1 QUBIC. Coupled with the absence of transfer fees, QUBIC tokens have a wide range of application scenarios in small payment scenarios. The indivisibility of tokens increases their scarcity, which is beneficial for maintaining token value.
Value Assessment of QUBIC
Whether QUBIC has investment value depends on whether the token experiences deflation, and the important factors affecting deflation are uncertain:
1. According to Sergey Ivancheglo's Medium, the Aigarth model may not take shape until at least 2027, so this part of the value expectation is weakened.
2. Currently, smart contract deployment is still in the official deployment stage, and external developers have not yet entered. The development prospects of this business segment are unknown, and whether the design that smart contract owners cannot directly enjoy contract income can attract excellent developers remains to be seen.
3. The destruction volume brought by small payment scenarios is limited and cannot have a significant impact on token circulation.
In summary, QUBIC tokens do not show significant investment value in the short term, and their long-term potential is still unknown and requires further observation.
Innovations Compared to Similar Projects
1. Users can enjoy free blockchain transactions, while transaction speed
Its performance surpasses other blockchains.
2. Smart contracts achieve decentralization through the IPO mechanism, which is a further continuation of Satoshi Nakamoto's spirit and is the first in the industry.
Project Risks
1. Development Delays: The development of Qubic's core AI model, Aigarth, poses high demands on the team. Despite the outstanding technical capabilities of founder Sergey Ivancheglo, there is still uncertainty about whether the development can be completed on schedule.
2. Insufficient Smart Contract Deployment: Qubic's excessive pursuit of decentralization in its design may affect the participation of excellent developers in smart contract deployment, hindering the development of this business segment.
3. Death Spiral Triggered by Price Fluctuations: If the price of Qubic tokens drops, it may lead miners to switch to other projects and sell off their tokens, causing further price declines and a vicious cycle.
Conclusion
Qubic is committed to pursuing extreme decentralization in blockchain, reflecting its adherence to the concept of decentralization in several key aspects. Through innovative mechanisms such as smart contract issuance, token burning, and free transfer services, it has brought many innovations to the entire industry.
Although Qubic has made many breakthroughs in pursuing decentralization, there are still some potential risks in terms of development progress, smart contract attractiveness, and token price fluctuations.
Whether the innovation in concepts can bring about a surpassing of value remains to be closely observed in its subsequent development dynamics.
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Disclaimer: The content of this article solely reflects the author's opinion and does not represent the platform in any capacity. This article is not intended to serve as a reference for making investment decisions.
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