What is YesPower?

YesPower is a proof-of-work hashing algorithm specifically designed to be optimally efficient on standard CPUs while remaining resistant to GPU, FPGA, and ASIC acceleration. It is derived from yescrypt, a memory-hard password hashing scheme that was a finalist in the Password Hashing Competition (PHC). YesPower works by performing computationally intensive operations that rely on features unique to general-purpose processors, such as complex memory access patterns with data-dependent addressing, frequent cache-line-sized random reads, and integer multiplication — operations that CPUs handle natively through their caches and arithmetic logic units but that are disproportionately expensive to implement in specialized hardware.

The algorithm achieves its CPU-friendly characteristics through careful tuning of memory access patterns that exploit the multi-level cache hierarchy of modern processors. It uses a relatively modest memory footprint (typically 2-4 MB, fitting within L3 cache) but creates highly irregular access patterns that defeat the simplified memory controllers found in GPUs and ASICs. Unlike algorithms that rely solely on large memory requirements for ASIC resistance, YesPower also leverages latency-sensitive sequential computations that cannot be effectively parallelized. This dual approach — memory access irregularity combined with sequential dependency — provides robust resistance against non-CPU mining hardware while keeping energy consumption low for CPU miners.

YesPower was developed by Solar Designer (Alexander Peslyak), the same researcher behind the original yescrypt and the well-known John the Ripper password cracker. It has been adopted by several cryptocurrency projects that prioritize accessible, egalitarian mining. Notable users include Cranepay, Yenten (a Japanese CPU-mineable coin), and several other smaller projects that chose YesPower specifically to enable mining on ordinary home computers. The algorithm represents a modern approach to CPU-optimized proof-of-work, building on decades of password hashing research to create a mining algorithm that genuinely favors everyday hardware over industrial mining operations.