What happened to Coinhive?

Coinhive shut down its browser-mining service on March 8, 2019. It had let websites use your device’s processor to mine Monero, but falling revenue and widespread abuse made it both less practical and notorious.

What Coinhive actually did

Launched in 2017, Coinhive offered a small piece of JavaScript, code that runs inside your web browser. A website owner could add that code to a page, and your phone, tablet, or laptop would perform mining calculations while you kept the page open.

Mining helps secure a cryptocurrency network. In return, miners can earn coins. With Coinhive, the website operator received the mining proceeds, minus Coinhive’s fee. You generally did not earn anything simply by visiting.

The pitch was an alternative to advertising: you could support a website by lending it some processing power. But that only made sense as a fair exchange if you understood and agreed to it.

Why it became so controversial

Coinhive became closely associated with cryptojacking, which means using someone’s device to mine cryptocurrency without their informed permission.

Some websites ran it without clearly asking visitors. Attackers also planted Coinhive code on compromised websites. That meant you could open an otherwise ordinary page and unknowingly have your device put to work.

On everyday devices, the effects could include:

• Faster battery drain on your phone or laptop.
• More heat and louder laptop fans.
• Slower browsing or less responsive apps.
• Extra electricity use while plugged in.

Coinhive also offered an opt-in version called AuthedMine. Still, the wider abuse led many security tools and browser-blocking tools to block Coinhive-related scripts.

The distinction matters: browser mining was not automatically malware, but secretly using your device’s resources was a real problem.

Why the company closed

In its shutdown announcement, Coinhive said the service was no longer economically viable. It pointed to the sharp drop in Monero’s price, changes to Monero’s mining algorithm, and a further network update expected in March 2019.

A mining algorithm is the set of calculations a device must perform to mine. Changes to those calculations can affect how useful particular mining software is.

Coinhive stopped mining on March 8, 2019, and announced that its account dashboard would remain available until April 30, 2019, for withdrawals.

One timeline detail is worth keeping straight: Monero’s move to RandomX did not cause Coinhive’s shutdown. RandomX, Monero’s current mining algorithm, arrived on November 30, 2019—months afterward. Coinhive operated during the earlier CryptoNight era.

What that means for you now

The original Coinhive service is gone. Old Coinhive code left on a website cannot earn Monero through that discontinued service.

If you encounter a site claiming that the original Coinhive is still running, or asking you to pay to release old Coinhive earnings, treat that claim cautiously. A familiar name is not proof that a service is legitimate.

Browser mining itself did not disappear with Coinhive. Other services and scripts can still use your processor. If a page makes your device unusually hot or sluggish, close it and check your browser’s task manager, if available. Those symptoms alone do not prove mining, but they are worth investigating.

The bottom line

Coinhive closed because its business stopped making financial sense, against a backdrop of widespread unauthorized mining. Its lasting lesson for you is simple: any website using your device to mine should clearly ask permission, explain the costs, and let you stop.