TeenyWork prototype turns browser PoW challenges into Bitcoin mining to price agent access
stonebrigade · reddit · 2026-10-17
A Reddit dev released TeenyWork (MIT-licensed), a prototype exploring whether compute itself can be a currency autonomous agents spend for resource access.
- It replaces classic PoW form challenges with bounded slices of live Bitcoin mining pool jobs; the browser searches candidate block headers
- Dual-target design: an easy target serves as the site's access threshold (one-use form token), while the far harder pool share threshold means almost every request yields an access proof but no pool share
- Share probability accumulates across requests: after H valid hashes the chance of at least one share is roughly 1-(1-p)^H; a hit may credit BTC to the operator's payout address
- The broader idea: services set a compute price, agents decide if the resource is worth the cycles — no wallet or per-request approval needed; stale jobs, electricity and device wear remain real costs
- The author notes it's only a prototype of the proof/mining side; agent negotiation isn't implemented yet
More from coding & agent
- Zach Lloyd on the 'software factory': engineering is becoming factory engineering — vikvang1 · 2026-10-17
- "A Great Model with a Bad Harness Loses": Complete Guide to Harness Engineering — aakashgupta · 2026-10-17
- Ex-Chrome lead Addy Osmani: a decent model with a great harness beats a great model — aakashgupta · 2026-10-17
- Dev uses Claude to ban millions of IPs by ASN, stopping a 0.5Tbps-scale attack — basedjensen · 2026-10-17
- GLM 5.3 Prompt for API Security Testing Sparks Debate — MicahBerkley · 2026-10-17
- RUC open-sources EvoOntology: self-evolving ontology layer lifts data agents by up to 26.7 points — udmrzn · 2026-10-17