Proof-of-work coins

146 coins #6 Page 2

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

# Coins Live Price Market cap 24h

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

51 BitcoinZ BTCZ $ 0.0000196
$ 228,402
$ 228,402
+2.03%
52 Statter STT $ 0.00365
$ 183,607
$ 183,607
-5.96%
53 Aeternity AE $ 0.00597
$ 169,487
$ 169,487
+19.42%
54 Sedra SDR $ 0.0₅392
$ 93,226
$ 93,226
-0.13%
55 Raptoreum RTM $ 0.0000705
$ 55,569
$ 55,569
+2.71%
56 Electric Cash ELCASH $ 0.0472
$ 26,219
$ 26,219
-0.21%
57 BTC MOBICK BMB $ 131.10
$ 496.20M
$ 496.20 million
-4.51%
58 Crypto Smart Network CSN $ 0.953
$ 476.69M
$ 476.69 million
-0.00%
59 TerraCoin TRC $ 8.80
$ 307.71M
$ 307.71 million
+0.00%
60 MimbleWimbleCoin MWC $ 10.06
$ 110.78M
$ 110.78 million
-0.73%
61 Xphere XP $ 0.0171
$ 30.90M
$ 30.90 million
-1.55%
62 Iron Fish IRON $ 0.0750
$ 5.57M
$ 5.57 million
-1.51%
63 Grin GRIN $ 0.0123
$ 2.88M
$ 2.88 million
+2.08%
64 Weber Energy Network WEN $ 0.00770
$ 1.62M
$ 1.62 million
-29.36%
65 Kadena KDA $ 0.00467
$ 1.58M
$ 1.58 million
+6.22%
66 WrappedXTM wXTM $ 0.000472
$ 468,956
$ 468,956
-3.47%
67 BitcoinII BC2 $ 0.173
$ 428,510
$ 428,510
+4.33%
68 Fact0rn FACT $ 0.392
$ 365,897
$ 365,897
-21.50%
69 Shibacoin SHIC $ 0.0₅263
$ 264,070
$ 264,070
+13.49%
70 ScPrime SCP $ 0.0184
$ 259,873
$ 259,873
+5.52%
71 BitcoinPoW BTCW $ 0.0250
$ 99,651
$ 99,651
+35.14%
72 Phicoin PHI $ 0.000273
$ 90,289
$ 90,289
+0.37%
73 Tonoreum TOR $ 0.0₅351
$ 60,590
$ 60,590
-4.01%
74 ByteCoin BCN $ --
$ --
$ --
--%
75 Bitcoin Diamond BCD $ --
$ --
$ --
--%
76 Bytom BTM $ --
$ --
$ --
--%
77 Groestlcoin GRS $ --
$ --
$ --
--%
78 DigitalNote XDN $ --
$ --
$ --
--%
79 ZClassic ZCL $ --
$ --
$ --
--%
80 Litecoin Cash LCC $ --
$ --
$ --
--%
81 PrimeCoin XPM $ --
$ --
$ --
--%
82 FeatherCoin FTC $ --
$ --
$ --
--%
83 AEON AEON $ --
$ --
$ --
--%
84 Bismuth BIS $ --
$ --
$ --
--%
85 MyriadCoin XMY $ --
$ --
$ --
--%
86 PotCoin POT $ --
$ --
$ --
--%
87 Anoncoin ANC $ --
$ --
$ --
--%
88 Omni OMNI $ --
$ --
$ --
--%
89 NewYorkCoin NYC $ --
$ --
$ --
--%
90 QuarkCoin QRK $ --
$ --
$ --
--%
91 0xBitcoin 0XBTC $ --
$ --
$ --
--%
92 Lethean LTHN $ --
$ --
$ --
--%
93 Karbo KRB $ --
$ --
$ --
--%
94 Wood Coin LOG $ --
$ --
$ --
--%
95 Dinastycoin DCY $ --
$ --
$ --
--%
96 Pakcoin PAK $ --
$ --
$ --
--%
97 BolivarCoin BOLI $ --
$ --
$ --
--%
98 Citadel CTL $ --
$ --
$ --
--%
99 XanaxCoin XNX $ --
$ --
$ --
--%
100 Enecuum ENQ $ --
$ --
$ --
--%

Trending Proof-of-work coins

Top Gainers

Coins Live Price Market cap 24h
eCash XEC $ 0.0₅706
$ 141.51M
$ 141.51 million
+8.69%
DigiByte DGB $ 0.00383
$ 70.29M
$ 70.29 million
+6.32%
QUBIC QUBIC $ 0.0₆437
$ 61.38M
$ 61.38 million
+3.64%
BELDEX BDX $ 0.0820
$ 645.36M
$ 645.36 million
-1.59%
Bitcoin Cash BCH $ 212.78
$ 4.27B
$ 4.27 billion
-1.98%
All Gainers

Market Cap

$ -- --%
Pro Chart

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.

Useful / Related Links