Proof-of-work coins

110 coins #6 Page 2

Proof of Work is how miners use computing power to solve puzzles, secure the blockchain, and earn rewards. More

# Coins Price Market cap 24h

The coins below are ranked lower due to missing data. Learn more

51 Shibacoin SHIC $ 0.0₅366
$ 353,338
$ 353,338
+14.32%
52 ScPrime SCP $ 0.0143
$ 194,213
$ 194,213
-0.48%
53 Tonoreum TOR $ 0.0₅395
$ 76,249
$ 76,249
+2.66%
54 ByteCoin BCN $ --
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55 Bytom BTM $ --
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56 DigitalNote XDN $ --
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57 ZClassic ZCL $ --
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58 Litecoin Cash LCC $ --
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59 PrimeCoin XPM $ --
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60 FeatherCoin FTC $ --
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61 AEON AEON $ --
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62 Bismuth BIS $ --
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63 MyriadCoin XMY $ --
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64 PotCoin POT $ --
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65 Anoncoin ANC $ --
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66 NewYorkCoin NYC $ --
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67 QuarkCoin QRK $ --
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68 Lethean LTHN $ --
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69 Karbo KRB $ --
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70 Wood Coin LOG $ --
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71 BolivarCoin BOLI $ --
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72 Citadel CTL $ --
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73 XanaxCoin XNX $ --
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74 Enecuum ENQ $ --
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75 Iridium IRD $ --
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76 PluraCoin PLURA $ --
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77 Swap XWP $ --
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78 Ycash YEC $ 0.290
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79 FlapXcoin FLAPX $ --
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80 Archethic UCO $ --
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81 SparkPoint Fuel SFUEL $ --
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82 BitcoinPoW BTCW $ --
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83 wownero WOW $ --
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84 Tres Chain TRES $ --
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85 SAFCOIN SAF $ --
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86 Aves AVS $ --
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87 BLOCX BLOCX $ --
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88 PVC Crypto PVCC $ --
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89 Hoosat Network HTN $ --
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90 SafeMineCoin SMCN $ --
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91 Digital Kash DKASH $ --
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92 Ore ORE $ --
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93 Sugarchain SUGAR $ --
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94 Luxchain LUX $ --
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95 CPUchain CPU $ --
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96 Altcoinchain ALT $ --
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97 TUSKE TSK $ --
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98 RavenCash RVH $ --
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99 Cellula Token CELA $ --
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100 Phicoin PHI $ --
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Trending Proof-of-work coins

Top gainers

Coins Price Market cap 24h
Quai Network QUAI $ 0.0923
$ 72.26M
$ 72.26 million
+11.52%
BEAM BEAM $ 0.0284
$ 5.24M
$ 5.24 million
+7.25%
Dogecoin DOGE $ 0.126
$ 21.31B
$ 21.31 billion
+3.49%
Ethereum Classic ETC $ 11.59
$ 1.80B
$ 1.80 billion
+2.97%
Ravencoin RVN $ 0.00716
$ 114.89M
$ 114.89 million
+2.61%
All gainers

What is a proof-of-work coin?

A proof-of-work (PoW) coin is a cryptocurrency that uses the proof-of-work consensus mechanism to validate transactions and add new blocks to its blockchain.
Miners compete to solve complex cryptographic puzzles; the first to find the solution broadcasts the new block, earns the block reward, and secures the network.
This process is intentionally energy-intensive and creates the “work” that makes rewriting history expensive.

How PoW Works (Step-by-Step)

  1. Transactions broadcast – users send coins; nodes collect them into a mempool.
  2. Hash puzzle – miners race to find a nonce that produces a hash below the current difficulty target.
  3. Winner broadcasts – the successful miner submits the new block; others verify the hash.
  4. Consensus & reward – once accepted, the miner receives newly minted coins + transaction fees.
  5. Difficulty adjustment – the network retargets puzzle hardness to keep block time stable (e.g., 10 min for Bitcoin).

Key Properties

  • Energy-intensive – Bitcoin alone uses ~150 TWh/year; criticism from environmental groups.
  • High security – 51% attack requires controlling >half of global hash power → expensive & detectable.
  • Decentralized minting – anyone with ASICs/GPUs can participate; no pre-mine or stake needed.
  • Fixed supply schedule – block rewards halve at set intervals (Bitcoin every 210,000 blocks).

PoW vs PoS (Snapshot)

Metric Proof-of-Work Proof-of-Stake
Energy use Very high (ASIC farms) Minimal (validators stake coins)
Entry barrier Hardware + electricity Capital (must buy & lock coins)
Attack cost Hash power + electricity 51% of staked coins
Finality time ~10–60 min (BTC, LTC) ~2–15 min (ETH, ADA)
Environmental tag “Dirty” “Green”

Major PoW Coins

Coin Launch Hash Algo Block Time Emission Curve
BTC 2009 SHA-256 10 min Halves every 4 yrs
LTC 2011 Scrypt 2.5 min Halves every 4 yrs
DOGE 2013 Scrypt (merge-mined) 1 min 10k DOGE per block (infinite)
ETC 2016 Ethash 13 sec Halves every 5 yrs
XMR 2014 RandomX 2 min Tail emission (0.6 XMR/block)

Benefits of PoW

  • Battle-tested security – 14 years of Bitcoin uptime; no successful 51% attack on BTC.
  • Fair launch – minting open to anyone with hardware; no ICO or pre-mine required.
  • Energy = security – electricity spent = real-world cost to rewrite history.
  • Supply predictability – halving cycles create transparent scarcity narrative.

Limitations / Criticisms

  • Environmental impact – Bitcoin uses ~0.6% of global electricity; ESG pressure on miners.
  • Scalability bottleneck – 7 TPS (BTC) vs 24,000 TPS (Visa); needs Layer-2 (Lightning, rollups).
  • Hardware arms race – ASIC monopoly pushes mining into data-center farms → centralisation risk.
  • Regulatory scrutiny – some jurisdictions ban PoW mining or tax energy heavily.

Final Thoughts

Proof-of-work remains the most battle-tested consensus mechanism, powering the top two cryptocurrencies by market cap and hashrate. While energy use and scalability concerns push newer chains toward proof-of-stake, PoW coins still offer unmatched security and a predictable monetary policy. Treat them as “digital commodities” with real-world energy backing—and keep an eye on Layer-2 solutions for scalability fixes.

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