During the opening week of the year,best brokerage accounts for crypto the Kheavyhash algorithm—used for mining kaspa (KAS)—topped the profitability charts among proof-of-work (PoW) algorithms. Fast forward to today, and Scrypt has claimed the crown as the most lucrative choice for miners, particularly those extracting dogecoin (DOGE) and litecoin (LTC).

Mining Algorithms Push Limits in a Historic Year

As 2024 draws to a close, Scrypt stands tall as the most profitable PoW algorithm. Originally introduced by Colin Percival in March 2009, Scrypt gained traction in 2011 when an anonymous developer, Artforz, integrated it into the Tenebrix cryptocurrency. Soon after, it powered Fairbrix and became synonymous with Charlie Lee’s Litecoin network. With Scrypt, miners can also generate dogecoin (DOGE) alongside LTC, maximizing their efforts with specialized hardware.

At the year’s start, Kheavyhash reigned supreme, offering significant returns for kaspa miners. Now, it ranks as the fifth most rewarding PoW algorithm. Back in January, SHA256—Bitcoin’s signature algorithm—secured the runner-up spot. As of now, Blake3, designed for mining decred (DCR) or alephium (ALPH), occupies second place ranking. SHA256 has settled comfortably into the third spot this December to close out the year.

Blake2S, also known as Kadena, started the year as the third most profitable algorithm and now holds fourth place. It enables miners to contribute to the Kadena network while earning KDA. Following Kheavyhash’s fifth spot in profitability is Eaglesong, ranked sixth and primarily used to mine nervos (CKB). Other prominent algorithms like Ethash and Blake2B-Sia are rounding out the list, which continue to offer returns depending on the hashrate produced.

The hardware behind these algorithms comes from industry leaders such as Bitmain and Microbt. Notably, a shake-up in rankings is expected next month with the debut of Bitmain’s Antminer S21e XP Hydro 3U. Boasting a staggering 860 terahash per second (TH/s) SHA256 hashrate, this powerhouse is predicted to become the second most profitable bitcoin miner, elevating SHA256’s standing as well. Over the past year, Litecoin’s hashrate has risen significantly reaching an all-time high of 2.09 petahash per second (PH/s) on Dec. 26, 2024, at block height 2,816,431.