pinch.

GPU mining guide

Pinch uses Ethash, the Proof of Work algorithm Ethereum used until 2022. A graphics card that mined Ethash can mine PINCH. The Pinch miner package runs the node; a separate Ethash GPU miner does the hashing and talks to your node over its local work endpoint ("getwork").

What you need

  • An AMD or NVIDIA graphics card with at least 2 GB of memory. The mining dataset (DAG) is about 1 GB today and grows by about 8 MB every 30,000 blocks.
  • The Pinch miner package and Python 3 (see the Mining guide).
  • An Ethash miner that supports getwork (HTTP) mode. The reference is ethminer (open source; OpenCL for AMD, CUDA for NVIDIA). Miners that only speak stratum cannot connect to a node directly.
  • A reward address. From block 20,000 it must hold at least the mining threshold T; the tiers in the Mining guide apply to GPU mining in the same way.

Start mining

  1. Start the node in GPU mode. In the folder of the miner package, run: - macOS / Linux: python3 pinch_miner.py start --address 0xYOUR_ADDRESS --gpu - Windows: python pinch_miner.py start --address 0xYOUR_ADDRESS --gpu

In GPU mode the node does no CPU mining. It serves Ethash work at http://127.0.0.1:9560. 2. Wait until the node is in sync. python3 pinch_miner.py status shows the current block and peers. Work served before the node is in sync builds on an old block and is wasted. 3. Start the GPU miner on the same computer: - AMD (OpenCL): ethminer -G -P http://127.0.0.1:9560 - NVIDIA (CUDA): ethminer -U -P http://127.0.0.1:9560 4. Check your results. The GPU miner's own output shows its hashrate; the node reports 0 for external miners. Blocks you find appear under your reward address in the explorer, and status shows your balance, the threshold and your tier.

Good to know

  • Solo mining. Your node mines on its own, so each block you find pays your reward address directly. There is no pool and no pool fee.
  • One node per computer. The work endpoint listens only on 127.0.0.1. Run the miner package on each computer that has GPUs.
  • Below the threshold. From block 20,000, if your reward address holds less than T, the node stops handing out work and the GPU miner waits. Mining resumes by itself once the balance is high enough.
  • Stop. Stop the GPU miner, then run python3 pinch_miner.py stop.
  • Upgrade. Use the current miner package from the Downloads page. Every node must run 1.13.0-pinch.3 or later before block 20,000.