Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

Again mostly negative comments here. May I ask why? It's 100% opt-in so I don't really see what blocking mining scripts has to do with it. I also block mining scripts but that's for rogue sites doing it without my consent (The Pirate Bay) while this feels like a legitimate use-case. Correct me if I'm wrong.

The headline makes it sound like they automatically start it if you're using an adblocker. That is not the case. Check the screenshot in the article.



Cryptocurrency mining scripts are primarily delivered as malware. It seems kind of incredibly tone-deaf for a journalistic site to attempt to use it as a means of monetizing even if making it opt-in.


In theory, it's a great idea being 100% opt-in and all.

But in practice, we know that CoinHive is being used largely as malware, being injected in third-party sites to enrich hackers. And it's not a nice move to support that ecosystem and the company which clearly doesn't give two damns that their software is enabling so much hacking.


You are right. However, CoinHive seems to care about this (at least superficially). Check out their AuthedMiner.


According to this, they don't seem to care at all: https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/vbpbz4/creators-o...

>The team don’t specifically track domains, so if a user’s email address is not, for example, “contact@website.com,” Coinhive often don’t know where or how the service is being used, though.

So they don't keep track of who uses the software (perfect for malicious users), and yes they offer an AuthedMiner but why are they still offering payouts to people who use the version which runs without user consent?

It's like me selling illegal firearms in the back of my store and people saying "Hey, he is really concerned about the negative effects of illegal arms dealing, that's why he sells legal firearms in the front of the store!"


I agree. There's probably room for an actor and competitor to CoinHive who takes this very seriously.




Consider applying for YC's Summer 2026 batch! Applications are open till May 4

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: