Scrypt Coins List Of Cryptocurrencies Using Scrypt Hashing Algorithm

Out of the top 5 cryptocurrencies by market cap 3 are mineable coins. Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum ETH and Litecoin LTC. All three operate within the proof of work consensus mechanism. They use different hashing algorithms.

Bitcoin uses SHA256 hash function while Ethereum currently uses Ethash Proof of Work. In the near future Ethereum will no longer support PoW as it will completely switch over to Proof of Stake. Litecoin on the other hand uses Scrypt algorithm. Apart from Litecoin; Scrypt algorithm is also being used on various other PoW blockchains.

Previously we've covered about SHA-256 coins. The same applies to this post.

Before we look at Scrypt Coins, here's a quick overview about the scrypt mining algorithm.

What is Scrypt hashing algorithm?

Unlike CryptoNight or Equihash, which are designed for Proof of Work blockchains only, scrypt was originally created for another purpose.

Scrypt is a password based key derivation function (KDF). Password based KDF are designed to be computationally intensive and they are efficient at preventing brute force attacks.

Scrypt is both a computationally intensive and memory-intensive hashing algorithm. It was originally developed for Tarsnap’s online backup service. Colin Percival created the algorithm. On May 2009 Colin published scrypt paper titled, "Stronger Key Derivation Via Sequential Memory-Hard Functions.".

You can read the full technical specifications here: https://www.tarsnap.com/scrypt/scrypt.pdf

Why Scrypt?

Scrypt is a high-security hash function that offers high security. It is also a memory hard algorithm, which makes it more secure by resisting large-scale custom hardware attack. This is why scrypt has been deemed perfect for distributed systems.

Large-scale custom hardware attacks on Scrypt can be costly due to the large amount of memory required. This hash function was designed so that miners need to quickly generate numbers. These randomly generated numbers are stored in RAM (Random Access Memory) of the processor. This data must be accessed continuously before you submit a result.

It is used because it is memory intensive and can be used to mitigate custom hardware, such as ASICs and FPGA, that are the main cause for centralization in cryptocurrency mining. Learn more about ASIC resistance.

Because it is able to stop ASIC mining machines, it is considered to be the best alternative to Bitcoin’s SHA256 hashing method. Cryptocurrencies

Origin of scrypt and cryptocurrencies

Today, Scrypt can be used by many proof-ofwork cryptocurrencies. Tenebrix, which was released September 2011 and implemented scrypt for PoW hashing, was the first cryptocurrency. This project was unsuccessful and it has since been discontinued. Later coins like Dogecoin (Litecoin) started using scrypt.

Scrypt was developed on blockchain networks and was initially introduced to improve SHA-256.

Projects such as Litecoin used scrypt to implement their hash function. This is due to its high security. One of the main reason is that its ability to resist ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuits).

But that is not the case anymore.

Mining Scrypt and Scrypt Miners

Scrypt was initially an ASIC/FPGA resistance method. This means that there was no hardware device to customize the Litecoin network. Litecoin mining was done by GPU miners. The first ASIC to mine scrypt algorithms was created in 2013. Since then CPUs and GPUs are no longer used for mining Litecoin and other Scrypt based coins.

ASICs are superior. Cryptography They generate more hashpower compared to CPUs, GPUs, and other machines. Anyone who mines with CPUs or GPUs that are not specialized will lose their money.

There are a lots of ASIC that are capable of mining scrypt coins but only the few advanced ones are actually profitable.

ASIC miner valuation currently only shows the following profitable miners who are mining scrypt currencies.

- Innosilicon A6+ LTCMaster, - Innosilicon A6 LTCMaster, - FusionSilicon X6 Miner, - Innosilicon A4+ LTCMaster - Bitmain Antminer L3+

As more advanced ASIC mining hardware is developed, this will change.

Only if any of these machines are available, you should consider mining the following scrypt cryptocurrency cryptocurrencies.

Noting that SHA-256 networks have a higher overall hashpower, scrypt networks are lower in overall hashpower. Its because of the memory intensiveness.

Alright! What coins use the Scrypt algorithm?

List of scrypt coins

Litecoin is (LTC) or Dogecoin is (DOGE), which are two of the most popular projects that use scrypt algorithms.

Litecoin, (LTC), was launched in 2011; Dogecoin, (DOGE), in 2013. Litecoin (LTC) was launched in 2011 and Dogecoin (DOGE) in 2013. However, it was ultimately unsuccessful.

Dogecoin on the other hand forked Litecoin and it was launched as a fun currency. It gained a huge following and is now a top cryptocurrency with a large market cap.

These two coins are not the only ones that use the scrypt algorithm. There are many other coins. We won't be listing them all. The majority of scrypt coins have been lost so it is not necessary to list them. We've also excluded PoS coins (proof-of stake) coins, as they are not mineable.