Coinranking
Proof-of-work coins
118 coins #6 Page 2| | Coins | | | ||
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| The coins below are ranked lower due to missing data. Learn more | |||||
| | 51 |  ScPrime SCP | $ | +3.00%  | |
| | 52 |  Fact0rn FACT | $ | -3.46%  | |
| | 53 |  Shibacoin SHIC | $ | -3.94%  | |
| | 54 |  Phicoin PHI | $ | +0.00%  | |
| | 55 |  Tonoreum TOR | $ | +1.72%  | |
| | 56 |  BitcoinPoW BTCW | $ | -40.95%  | |
| | 57 |  ByteCoin BCN | $ | --%  | |
| | 58 |  Bitcoin Diamond BCD | $ | --%  | |
| | 59 |  Bytom BTM | $ | --%  | |
| | 60 |  Groestlcoin GRS | $ | --%  | |
| | 61 |  DigitalNote XDN | $ | --%  | |
| | 62 |  ZClassic ZCL | $ | --%  | |
| | 63 |  Litecoin Cash LCC | $ | --%  | |
| | 64 |  PrimeCoin XPM | $ | --%  | |
| | 65 |  FeatherCoin FTC | $ | --%  | |
| | 66 |  AEON AEON | $ | --%  | |
| | 67 |  Bismuth BIS | $ | --%  | |
| | 68 |  MyriadCoin XMY | $ | --%  | |
| | 69 |  PotCoin POT | $ | --%  | |
| | 70 |  Anoncoin ANC | $ | --%  | |
| | 71 |  NewYorkCoin NYC | $ | --%  | |
| | 72 |  QuarkCoin QRK | $ | --%  | |
| | 73 |  Lethean LTHN | $ | --%  | |
| | 74 |  Wood Coin LOG | $ | --%  | |
| | 75 |  Pakcoin PAK | $ | --%  | |
| | 76 |  BolivarCoin BOLI | $ | --%  | |
| | 77 |  Citadel CTL | $ | --%  | |
| | 78 |  XanaxCoin XNX | $ | --%  | |
| | 79 |  Enecuum ENQ | $ | --%  | |
| | 80 |  Iridium IRD | $ | --%  | |
| | 81 |  PluraCoin PLURA | $ | --%  | |
| | 82 |  Swap XWP | $ | --%  | |
| | 83 |  Ycash YEC | $ | -6.23%  | |
| | 84 |  FlapXcoin FLAPX | $ | --%  | |
| | 85 |  Archethic UCO | $ | --%  | |
| | 86 |  SparkPoint Fuel SFUEL | $ | --%  | |
| | 87 |  wownero WOW | $ | --%  | |
| | 88 |  Tres Chain TRES | $ | --%  | |
| | 89 |  SAFCOIN SAF | $ | --%  | |
| | 90 |  Aves AVS | $ | --%  | |
| | 91 |  BLOCX BLOCX | $ | --%  | |
| | 92 |  PVC Crypto PVCC | $ | --%  | |
| | 93 |  Hoosat Network HTN | $ | --%  | |
| | 94 |  SafeMineCoin SMCN | $ | --%  | |
| | 95 |  Digital Kash DKASH | $ | --%  | |
| | 96 |  Ore ORE | $ | --%  | |
| | 97 |  Sugarchain SUGAR | $ | --%  | |
| | 98 |  Luxchain LUX | $ | --%  | |
| | 99 |  CPUchain CPU | $ | --%  | |
| | 100 |  Altcoinchain ALT | $ | --%  | |
Trending Proof-of-work coins
| Coins | Live Price | 24h | |
|---|---|---|---|
| |  Bitcoin BTC | $ | +1.74%  |
| |  Dogecoin DOGE | $ | +1.29%  |
| |  BELDEX BDX | $ | +1.89%  |
Top Gainers
| Coins | | | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |  Zcash ZEC | $ | +15.74%  | ||
| |  DigiByte DGB | $ | +8.03%  | ||
| |  Dash DASH | $ | +7.95%  | ||
| |  Bitcoin Cash BCH | $ | +6.05%  | ||
| |  Horizen ZEN | $ | +5.55%  | ||
| All Gainers | |||||
Market Cap
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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)
- Transactions broadcast – users send coins; nodes collect them into a mempool.
- Hash puzzle – miners race to find a nonce that produces a hash below the current difficulty target.
- Winner broadcasts – the successful miner submits the new block; others verify the hash.
- Consensus & reward – once accepted, the miner receives newly minted coins + transaction fees.
- 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.