GPU Coin: What It Is, Why It Matters, and What You Should Know
When people talk about GPU coin, a cryptocurrency that relies on graphics processing units for mining. Also known as graphics card mineable coin, it refers to digital assets designed to be mined using consumer-grade GPUs instead of specialized hardware like ASICs. These coins were once the backbone of decentralized mining—letting everyday users join the network with a gaming rig. But today, most major GPU coins have either shifted away from Proof of Work or become too hard to mine profitably.
Proof of Work is still the core of Bitcoin, the original and largest cryptocurrency that uses SHA-256 mining, but it doesn’t run on GPUs anymore. ASICs took over years ago. That leaves only a few coins still viable for GPU mining—like Ethereum Classic, a fork of Ethereum that kept Proof of Work after Ethereum switched to Proof of Stake, or smaller projects using algorithms like RandomX or Equihash. Even then, electricity costs and coin prices make it a tight squeeze. Many so-called GPU coins you see advertised are just scams—fake tokens with no real mining process, designed to trick you into buying them.
What’s left of the GPU mining scene today? Mostly hobbyists, crypto curiosities, and people testing old hardware. Some still mine for the fun of it, or to support smaller networks that value decentralization over profit. But if you’re thinking of starting now, you’re not chasing returns—you’re chasing nostalgia. The real value in GPU coins now isn’t in mining it, but in understanding why they mattered, how they shaped crypto, and what happened when the money left. That’s why this collection includes posts on Proof of Work, mining scams, and the slow death of consumer mining. You’ll find deep dives into coins that once thrived on GPUs, exchanges that claimed to support them, and airdrops that pretended to be mining rewards. Some are cautionary tales. Others are relics. All of them show how the crypto world moved on—and why you should too.
