Cloud mining has a long graveyard. We keep problem providers visible on purpose - as warnings, without visit links. This is the list most affiliate sites quietly delete. "Watch" is not an accusation: those providers are still ranked, but with active concerns you should read before paying.
Flagged scam
Documented fraud, criminal cases or a model that is a ponzi by construction. Never sign up - the review stays as an archive.
IQ
IQ Mining (IQMining)
scam
Widely listed as a scam on anti-fraud/community sources for years; the combination of daily returns, 'double up', Forex margin trading and 'up to 180%/year' auto-reinvest is a classic HYIP profile. Website returns HTTP 403 to datacenter IPs in 2026 and no longer resolves as an operating store; only archived 2023 content remains. Treat as a scam/HYIP.
DOJ WDWA (Nov 21, 2022): Potapenko and Turõgin, both 37, arrested in Tallinn on an 18-count indictment; ~$575M paid by hundreds of thousands of victims; DOJ alleges a massive Ponzi scheme and money laundering. Cointelegraph timeline: arrested Nov 2022; pleaded guilty to wire fraud Feb 12, 2025; 'self-deportation' proceedings Apr 2025; prosecutors sought a 10-year sentence Aug 2025; media report a 16-month jail term. The current hashflare.io domain (created 2025-03-17) is a parking page - a separate scam risk.
The site now returns an empty shell ('Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information') with no product. Reddit threads from 2016-2017 promoted the 'free' hashrate - a classic acquisition funnel. No evidence of a real mining operation.
Now domain-parked for sale (Sedo, asking $19,490). The domain also returned the same /lander Cloudflare redirect as bemine/sunmining/gigahash on 2026-09-24. Shamining has long been on community scam lists; the current parked state is a strong negative signal.
Mobile 'free cloud mining' apps (category, e.g. CryptoTab, BFG-style)
scam
The 'free cloud mining' mobile app category is dominated by ponzi/reward-app mechanics: the first users are paid from later users' purchases/boosts. Chrome Web Store / Google Play have repeatedly removed CryptoTab and similar. Treat every 'mine crypto free on your phone' app as a scam until it shows a verifiable pool worker.
A brand-takeover scam cluster: the re-registered hashshiny.io serves a dead storefront and injected gambling spam, while .co/.pro clones run a generic HYIP under a false UK FCA registration claim tied to a dissolved company.
scam
Brand domain re-registered in October 2025, years after the original product operated
Injected gambling/togel SEO pages on the brand domain
False UK FCA registration claim ('registered with the regulatory authority by UK FCA')
Sole linked UK company dissolved 2026-02-10
Generic HYIP script with a free-bonus hook and no verifiable hashrate
2025 accusation of impersonating Bit Digital's name/logo
No longer operating - contracts and deposits are likely worthless. A frozen or parked page can still answer with HTTP 200: "reachable" never means "working".
PE
Petals
An influential open-source distributed-inference research project that is now effectively abandoned: no commits since September 2024, no releases since 2023, and the public network health endpoint and chat demo no longer work reliably.
A once-cheap, crypto-friendly Delaware GPU marketplace that lost its host inventory and support after being absorbed into Voltage Park; the public hostnode feed is empty and 2026 community reports describe failed VMs, ghost billing and no support - treat it as a dead service and archive listing.
dead
Public hostnode listing is empty while the site still advertises GPUs
Ghost billing: instances marked 'Terminated' still charged per 2026 reports
Host data (25 TB) reportedly stranded after the platform stopped responding
Dead: StormGain permanently shut down and migrated to YouHodler on 2025-01-13, and its celebrated 'free mining' was only an internal trading bonus, never purchasable hashrate.
dead
Marketing language 'Fast and risk-free' around a bonus-only mining feature
Current SEO meta still advertises 'mine Bitcoin' while the body says the service is permanently discontinued
Obligations assigned to unnamed entities at shutdown
Dead as a consumer proposition: after the 2022 withdrawal freeze left ~11,700 wallet customers holding ~$163.7m of IOUs, the operator filed Chapter 11 in July 2026 and is selling its West Texas mining sites.
dead
2022 withdrawal suspension left retail wallet customers as unsecured creditors - a documented loss event, not an allegation
Chapter 11 bankruptcy with $100m-$500m estimated liabilities
Dead: rigrentals.com is a parked GoDaddy lander with no rental service, and it is a different domain from the still-active MiningRigRentals (miningrigrentals.com).
dead
Domain-parking page can be mistaken for a real rig-rental service; do not treat as an operating provider
Still operating and still ranked, but our fact checks logged active concerns (payout complaints, ownership changes, unresolved incidents). Not a condemnation - read the review before you pay.
JA
Jackal Protocol
Community threads describe the project as dead and reference an unresolved third-party acquisition/cancellation dispute (removed/self-promotional Reddit posts, low reliability).
watch
Community threads describe the project as dead and reference an unresolved third-party acquisition/cancellation dispute (removed/self-promotional Reddit posts, low reliability).
2022-12 Reddit: 'Breach of contract / No communication once payment received / Zero transparency / Non-performance' after ordering units
watch
2022-12 Reddit: 'Breach of contract / No communication once payment received / Zero transparency / Non-performance' after ordering units
2023-02 Reddit 'BEWARE Wattum Management': alleges miners in Russia were seized and clients forced to sell (a later update says a resolution was reached)
2023-07 Reddit: 'Wattum is a scam and stole a lot of money from a lot of people who use to host with them'
2025-08 Reddit 'Hosting': 'Do not do not do not host with wattum'
Scam: documented fraud or a guaranteed-return model that cannot be real. Dead: no longer operating. Watch: unresolved concerns short of removal. Status follows our methodology; providers can dispute with evidence via contact.
