Mining
Mining is how a Proof-of-Work (PoW) blockchain agrees on its history and issues new coins. Miners run computers that race to solve a hard math puzzle; the winner gets to add the next block and is paid in the chain's coin. In the SoapBox ecosystem, the mined chain is PRANA — while its social sister chain MELEK is not mined (it uses DPoS witnesses instead).
How it works
- A hash function turns any data into a fixed fingerprint. Mining means repeatedly hashing a block with a changing number (nonce) until the fingerprint is below a target — like rolling dice until you hit a low enough number.
- Difficulty auto-adjusts so blocks arrive at a steady pace no matter how much total hashrate is pointed at the chain.
- The winner's coins are the block reward; on many chains this reward halves on a schedule (see halving).
Algorithms — what you mine with
Different chains use different puzzles, which favor different hardware:
- SHA-256 — Bitcoin. ASIC-dominated.
- RandomX / CryptoNote — Monero and the pool's CPU side. CPU-friendly and ASIC-resistant — you can even mine in a browser.
- Etchash — Ethereum Classic and PRANA. GPU mining, laptop-friendly; needs a ~1 GB DAG in memory.
Pools and browser mining
Solo mining rarely wins on a big chain, so miners join a pool — many miners combine hashrate and split rewards by contribution. The SoapBox pool runs RandomX (CPU), Etchash (GPU/PRANA), and even browser mining — earn from your first accepted share.
Useful-work mining (what makes PRANA different)
Normal PoW "wastes" its work on puzzles that exist only to be hard. PRANA adds a TASK lane beside the classic HASH lane: verified AI / GPU compute earns from the same reward pool. Mining PRANA can mean doing the actual compute a live AI runs on — so the work is useful, not thrown away.
Mining vs. witnessing
Mining (PoW) is one way a chain agrees; witnessing (DPoS) is another — voted block-producers instead of hashpower. MELEK is witnessed; PRANA is mined. Learn both at the Witness School.
See also: Forking · Cloning · PRANA · Crypto Glossary · the pool