Mining
Mine Clanker Coin with the hardware you already own.
Clanker Coin is secured by ClankerHash, a proof-of-work function designed to run well on the GPU already in your desktop, on Apple Silicon, and on the CPU when nothing else is available. One miner binary detects your hardware and picks a backend.
The algorithm
How ClankerHash works
Plain-language version. The full specification lives in the protocol documentation on GitHub.
ClankerHash is memory-hard and integer-only, built around BLAKE3. Each hash evaluation fills a 64 KiB scratchpad and runs the candidate through 1,024 rounds of data-dependent memory mixing before producing a 256-bit digest. A block is valid only when that digest is less than or equal to the network's current target.
Memory-hardness means the algorithm's cost comes from reading and writing that scratchpad, not from raw arithmetic throughput, which is why it favors the kind of general-purpose GPU and CPU hardware people already own rather than narrow, purpose-built circuits.
The Rust CPU implementation is the reference verifier: it defines the correct answer. Every GPU backend, CUDA, HIP, and Metal, has to reproduce it bit for bit against a set of frozen test vectors before it is considered correct. None of them may take a shortcut that changes the result, because consensus depends on every node agreeing on the same digest for the same input.
Verifying a submitted block, by contrast, is cheap: a node runs one ClankerHash evaluation over the header and compares the digest to the target.
Supported hardware
Four backends, one algorithm
Hardware is described as categories, not as a guarantee for a specific model. Actual compatibility depends on the released miner backend.
NVIDIA · CUDA
GeForce RTX cards, NVIDIA workstation GPUs, and NVIDIA data-center GPUs.
Learn moreAMD · HIP / ROCm
Radeon cards, AMD workstation GPUs, and ROCm-compatible GPUs.
Learn moreApple · Metal
Apple Silicon Macs, from the first M-series chip to the current generation.
Learn moreCPU fallback
Every supported platform, at CPU speeds, with no special hardware required.
Learn moreNVIDIA CUDA
The CUDA backend targets NVIDIA GeForce RTX cards, NVIDIA workstation GPUs, and NVIDIA data-center GPUs. It is held to the same frozen test vectors as the CPU reference, so a valid share from a CUDA device is valid everywhere else, too.
AMD HIP / ROCm
The HIP backend targets AMD Radeon cards, AMD workstation GPUs, and other ROCm-compatible GPUs, using the same memory-hard mixing as every other backend.
Apple Metal
The Metal backend targets Apple Silicon M-series Macs. It is held byte-identical to the CPU reference implementation, evaluation for evaluation.
CPU
Every platform Clanker Coin ships for can mine on CPU alone, at CPU speeds. The CPU implementation is also the reference the other three backends are checked against, so it is always available as a fallback.
Quickstart
Solo-mine against your own node
Two processes: a node with its solo-mining server enabled, and a miner pointed at it.
1. Run a node with Clanker Stratum enabled and a reward address from your wallet. On testnet:
clankerd --network testnet --stratum-enabled --stratum-reward-address tclank1...The reward address comes from your wallet, for example the output of clanker-wallet address new.
2. Point the miner at that node:
clanker-miner --server 127.0.0.1:19762 --network testnetUseful flags:
| Flag | Purpose |
|---|---|
--backend cuda|hip|metal | Select a GPU backend instead of auto-detection. |
--device | Select a specific device when more than one is present. |
--threads | CPU thread count for the CPU backend. |
--intensity 1-100 | Trade off mining load against system responsiveness. |
--list-devices | Print every device the miner can see, then exit. |
--benchmark 30 | Run a 30-second local benchmark instead of mining. |
| Network | Stratum port |
|---|---|
| Mainnet | 9762 |
| Testnet | 19762 |
Beyond one machine
Pools, ASICs, and FPGAs
ClankerHash makes no ASIC-resistance claim. External mining hardware, including ASICs and FPGAs, and pool software connect to a node over Clanker Stratum: newline-delimited JSON messages over a plain TCP connection, where each share's difficulty is expressed as a 256-bit target and every submitted share is re-hashed by the server before it is accepted.
The protocol is currently in design and is implemented today in the node's own solo-mining server, the same server the quickstart above connects to. There is no public mining pool yet.
Economics
What mining pays
The block subsidy is 50 CLKC, halving every 4,204,800 blocks. It is a fixed schedule, not an incentive that changes with participation.
What that is worth to an individual miner depends entirely on the network's total hashrate: the more hashpower competing for blocks, the smaller any one miner's expected share of them. Mining income is not guaranteed, is not fixed, and can fall to zero for a given machine if enough other hardware joins the network. See supply for the full issuance schedule and network for current difficulty and hashrate.
Downloads
Get the miner
Platforms Clanker Coin actively builds and supports. A platform not listed here is not yet built.
Documentation