Gamers Can Mine Crypto With Their GPUs, Arthur Hayes Says

Brief

By Dextape Desk · November 9, 2026

Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX, suggests idle gaming computers could handle AI workloads and earn crypto. His venture, Flop Labs, aims to turn spare computing power into income. On November 8, Hayes shared a FLOP mining demo on an Nvidia RTX 5080, where a developer reported twelve AI tasks completed with no failures. The setup used about 13GB of the card's 16GB memory, while official requirements call for at least 16GB, so many cheaper cards may not qualify. Nobody is earning yet. The network is still in development, and tokens from the trial cannot be converted into money. According to Hayes, taking part now does not make anyone eligible for an airdrop. A 90-day testnet will shape future allocations, and real rewards are expected after the mainnet launches. Payouts will hinge on AI demand, electricity costs and the token's market value.

Why it matters: It suggests consumer graphics cards could be drawn into AI computing supply, a development relevant to readers tracking how crypto projects source computing power.

Summary by Dextape, based on reporting by BeInCrypto. Machine-written from BeInCrypto’s report and checked against it · How Dextape writes