How Mining Works in April 2025

Mining has changed significantly since launch, so I thought now would be a good time to explain how it works again.

What is mining?

Mining involves the use of a GPU to perform hash-based proof-of-work as a part of the EarthBucks consensus algorithm. Anyone can mine EarthBucks to earn EarthBucks (EBX).

How do I mine?

You can mine by visiting the mine page. You will need to get verified to mine EarthBucks. Verification is required to prevent Sybil attacks.

How much do I earn?

You earn a share of the next block in proportion to the amount of work you do, up to one good GPU. This means that if you have a better GPU, you will earn more EarthBucks. However, the amount is unpredictable, and it is limited to one GPU per user. Currently, the amount of mining reward per block is 5% of each block reward divided among all miners in proportion to the amount of work they did. The proportion of each block reward given to miners is subject to change with time and will likely decrease in the future.

What algorithm is used for proof-of-work?

The proof-of-work algorithm for EarthBucks is called Pow5, a custom algorithm based on a combination of the Blake3 hashing algorithm and one row of a matrix multiplication to make it ASIC-resistant.

What algorithm is used for the difficulty adjustment?

The difficulty adjustment algorithm is a custom algorithm based on exponential decay, making it robust against wild changes in hash rate.

What is the block time?

Block times always average 10 minutes, but they can vary significantly.

How many total EarthBucks (EBX) are there?

There will be a total of 42 million EBX, exactly twice that of Bitcoin.

What is the distribution schedule?

The distribution schedule starts with 100 EBX per block with a four-year halving schedule. This is just like Bitcoin, but with twice as much at any given block number.

How does it work on the web?

EarthBucks mining is done in the browser using WebGPU, a new technology that allows web pages to access the GPU directly. Currently, this means only Chrome can reliably be used to mine EarthBucks, but all major browsers should have support soon, as early as 2025.

What is the purpose of mining?

The purpose of proof-of-work on the EarthBucks blockchain is a decentralized consensus algorithm that allows different mines to independently determine the next valid block. It is exactly the same as Bitcoin. Proof-of-work mining is a solution to the Byzantine Generals’ Problem.

Mining is not a security mechanism.