InitVerse (INI) and INIBOX: what it was, how it was mined and what to do with the machines now

InitVerse (INI) was a cryptocurrency that could only be mined on Pinecone INIBOX ASIC miners with its own VersaHash algorithm. In summer 2026 the project collapsed: the INI price crashed, withdrawals were blocked and independent developers discovered that VersaHash is in fact the existing NexaPoW algorithm. Mining INI makes no sense today. The INIBOX machines still work, however, and can be redirected to the Nexa coin – we describe how in our news article The InitVerse (INIBOX) scam. This article summarises what the project promised, how mining worked and what to take away from it.

Summary

• InitVerse presented itself as a platform connecting cloud computing with Web3. The INI coin was mined with the VersaHash algorithm.
• The only hardware was the Pinecone INIBOX (850 MH/s, 500 W) and INIBOX Pro (2.4 GH/s, 1,280 W) miners.
• According to a community analysis, the INIBOX is a modified Dragonball miner for Nexa and VersaHash is a copy of NexaPoW, locked by its own pool login.
• Machine owners have three options: redirect them to Nexa, sell them or switch them off. Income from Nexa is uncertain and depends on the electricity price.

What InitVerse was and what it promised

The InitVerse project (also INIChain or IniCoin) claimed to be building a next-generation blockchain for “Web3 SaaS” – networks where computing power and cloud services are paid for with the INI coin. The coin traded on, among others, the MEXC exchange, which gave it an appearance of liquidity.

The key argument was its own VersaHash algorithm. According to the project, it was meant to be resistant to large miners and reserved for specialised machines. In practice this meant that INI could only be mined on hardware from a single manufacturer, Pinecone. Sellers quoted a payback period of 6–8 months – based on the calculators of the time, the original version of this article quoted it too. Such calculations for new coins are often a warning sign, because they rest on a single day's price.

How INI was mined: VersaHash and INIBOX miners

Mining ran on two models of ASIC miners from Pinecone. The basic INIBOX was a small machine for the home, the Pro version was aimed at larger operations.

The machines connected to pools that supported INI and paid out to an InitVerse wallet or to an exchange deposit address. The noise of 55–60 dB from the basic model is like a kitchen extractor hood – not really for the living room, but fine for a workshop or utility room.

What happened to InitVerse in 2026

In summer 2026 the developers stopped all activity and blocked withdrawals, the INI price collapsed and it turned out that the network was completely centralised. Many miners had bought INIBOXes only a few days earlier. We describe the detailed course of events in a separate news article; here is just what matters for machine owners:

• Independent developers and pool operators examined the INIBOX firmware and protocol.
• They found that VersaHash computes the same hashes as NexaPoW, the algorithm of the Nexa coin.
• According to them, the INIBOX itself is a modified Dragonball ASIC for Nexa. It was “locked” to INI by a modified stratum protocol and its own authentication, so ordinary pools rejected it.

For owners, this means the hardware is not broken. It simply makes no sense to keep it mining INI.

What to do with an INIBOX miner today

You basically have three options. Before deciding, work out how much your electricity costs – that is the only figure you know for certain.

1. Redirect to Nexa. Because the machine physically computes NexaPoW, with the right settings it can mine on a Nexa pool. Anyone trying this should compare the daily income in NEXA according to the pool's calculator with the table above. At the household rate, the machine has to mine roughly four times as much as in hosting to cover the electricity. The solution for hosting customers is described in our news article.
2. Sell. After the INI collapse, the market for INIBOXes is small and prices are low. Sell with full disclosure of the machine's condition and history.
3. Switch off. If the machine consumes more than it mines, switching it off is the cheapest option. Keep it in case the Nexa price rises.

Mining Nexa on an INIBOX means accumulating coins of uncertain future value, not a guaranteed income. Don't rely on estimates like “once Nexa goes up” – nobody can guarantee that it will.

How to spot similar projects in advance

The InitVerse case has features that keep recurring with problematic coins. If you see several of them in a new coin at once, be careful:

• A “unique” algorithm and a single machine manufacturer. When the hardware is made by one company tied to the project, nobody independent can verify what the machine really computes.
• A closed pool and a proprietary protocol. If the machine only works with “official” pools, the team has mining under its control.
• A promise of quick payback. A 6-month payback for a coin with no history is calculated from today's price, which can fall within a week.
• Pre-orders and pressure to decide quickly. We describe how this pattern works in our article CryptoScam #5: Pre-orders of non-existent miners.
• Low liquidity. A handful of exchanges and low trading volume make a pump and dump easier.

A safer choice is usually machines for established coins with several manufacturers and independent pools – their current income is shown on the ASIC miner profitability page.

What next

• The InitVerse (INIBOX) scam – the detailed course of the collapse and how the machines can be switched to Nexa.
• Pre-orders of non-existent miners – how to recognise a similar scam before you pay.
• ASIC miner profitability – a live overview of what machines for Bitcoin, Kaspa or Litecoin earn today.

Sources

• Kryptex: pool for Nexa (NexaPow)