Digital currency miners who embedded code into websites which hijack CPUs and use the power to mine bitcoins and slow down a computer\'s functionality are becoming a big problem and a potential risk for smartphones.

However, web browser, Opera has announced it is attempting to combat such issues for its users. The web browser for Windows, macOS, and Linux operating systems has previously released cryptocurrency miner protection for it desktop based system and is now installing the same feature for smartphone users.

In a statement, the company announced that the new feature will be available on Opera for Android and Opera Mini. The statement also explained that the new anti-cryptocurrency mining feature will be activated by default if a user enables the ad blocker. The new feature will detect and halt mining scripts being written into a webpage’s code.

The company have explained that billions of devices are being slowed down by website-based cryptocurrency miners and that often users don’t even realise it is happening. Digital currency miners can overwork a phones’ CPUs, forcing the phone to potentially overheat and stop working. What’s more, this damage can sometimes be permanent.

The new feature is currently available and Opera’s browser can also be downloaded from Google’s Play store.