Why Your Pool Choice Matters More Than You Think
Every ten minutes, the Bitcoin network mints a new block. Roughly 3.125 BTC in block subsidy plus transaction fees flow to whichever miner solves the cryptographic puzzle first. For the overwhelming majority of miners, that reward is claimed through a mining pool — a service that aggregates hashrate from thousands of individual miners, finds blocks more frequently, and distributes the reward proportionally among contributors.
The concept is simple. The implications are not.
When you point your ASIC miner at a pool, you are not just choosing where your paycheck comes from. You are choosing who constructs the block templates that determine which Bitcoin transactions get confirmed. You are choosing who holds your earned sats until payout day. You are choosing whether to concentrate hashrate in the hands of a few dominant operators or distribute it across a more resilient network. In a system built on decentralization, pool selection is one of the most consequential decisions a miner can make.
This guide exists because the Bitcoin network needs miners who think about these things. We break down every major payout method, analyze the decentralization landscape with current 2026 data, and provide a deep comparison of every pool worth considering — from the institutional giants to the cypherpunk upstarts building the infrastructure Bitcoin actually needs.
What Is a Mining Pool?
A mining pool is a server that coordinates work among multiple miners. Instead of each miner independently attempting to find a block (a process with astronomical odds for any single machine), the pool distributes work units, collects submitted shares (proofs of work that are valid at a lower difficulty than the network target), and when one of those shares happens to also meet the full network difficulty, the pool has found a block.
The pool then distributes the block reward among all contributing miners according to the pool’s chosen payout method. Different pools use different methods, and the differences are not trivial — they affect your earnings variance, your exposure to pool operator risk, and the overall health of the Bitcoin network.
Here is the critical thing most pool comparison guides leave out: the pool operator also decides what goes into the block. The pool constructs the block template — choosing which transactions to include, in what order, and with what priority. This is not a theoretical concern. In a network processing hundreds of thousands of transactions per day, the entity that controls block template construction has real power over Bitcoin’s censorship resistance.
This is why pool choice is not just a financial decision. It is a political one.
Understanding Pool Payout Methods
Before comparing individual pools, you need to understand the payout models they offer. The payout method determines how rewards are calculated, when you get paid, and how much risk you bear versus the pool operator. There are meaningful tradeoffs between predictability and fairness, and no single method is universally “best.”
FPPS (Full Pay Per Share)
How it works: The pool pays you a fixed amount for every valid share you submit, calculated from both the block subsidy and an estimated transaction fee component. You earn the same regardless of whether the pool actually finds blocks or gets lucky/unlucky with timing. The pool absorbs all variance.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Most predictable earnings — nearly zero variance | Pool charges higher fees to compensate for absorbing risk |
| Easy to forecast revenue and plan operations | Transaction fee estimates may be lower than actual fees |
| No exposure to pool luck | Pool must have capital reserves to cover unlucky streaks |
| Includes transaction fee income | If the pool goes insolvent during a bad streak, your unpaid balance is at risk |
Best for: Miners who need revenue predictability — operations with fixed electricity costs, loan payments, or tight margins. Most institutional miners prefer FPPS.
PPS+ (Pay Per Share Plus)
How it works: A hybrid model. The block subsidy portion is paid per share (like PPS/FPPS), giving you predictable base income. The transaction fee portion is distributed based on actual blocks found — similar to PPLNS for the fee component only. This means your base income is stable, but your transaction fee income fluctuates with pool luck.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Stable base income from block subsidy | Transaction fee portion varies with luck |
| Often lower pool fees than pure FPPS | More complex to forecast total earnings |
| Captures actual (not estimated) transaction fees when luck is good | Still carries counterparty risk with the pool |
Best for: Miners who want a balance between predictability and upside from transaction fees.
PPLNS (Pay Per Last N Shares)
How it works: When the pool finds a block, it looks at the last N shares submitted and distributes the entire block reward (subsidy + transaction fees) proportionally among miners who contributed those shares. If no block is found, you earn nothing for that period. When the pool is lucky, everyone earns more. When unlucky, everyone earns less.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Lowest pool fees (pool bears no variance risk) | Highly variable payouts — can be zero on unlucky days |
| True proportional share of actual rewards | Discourages pool-hopping (shares from inactive periods are worth nothing) |
| Long-term earnings converge to theoretical expected value | Requires patience and tolerance for variance |
| Aligns miner and pool incentives | Harder to budget around |
Best for: Long-term miners comfortable with variance, especially on larger pools where block frequency smooths earnings naturally.
TIDES (Transparent Index of Distinct Extended Shares)
How it works: TIDES is OCEAN’s proprietary payout method, designed from the ground up for transparency and mathematical precision. Rather than approximating reward distributions like PPLNS or buffering payments like FPPS, TIDES calculates the exact pro-rata portion of each miner’s contributed hashrate. Block rewards are divided by percentage of effort, with the proof period structured so that each share is paid on average 8 times across multiple blocks. This dramatically reduces variance compared to standard PPLNS while maintaining full transparency.
Every calculation is auditable. Miners can independently verify that they received exactly what the mathematics dictate. No trust required.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Mathematically verifiable — zero trust required | Only available on OCEAN |
| Non-custodial — payouts come directly from coinbase transactions | Higher minimum payout threshold (~0.01 BTC on-chain) |
| Reduced variance vs. traditional PPLNS | Newer system, less battle-tested than PPS/PPLNS |
| Includes actual transaction fees | Requires understanding of the proof period model |
Best for: Miners who prioritize transparency, self-sovereignty, and verifiability over maximum simplicity.
Solo Mining
How it works: You mine independently — typically through a solo pool service that handles the Stratum protocol but does not split rewards. If your hardware finds a valid block, you keep the entire block reward (3.125 BTC + fees). If it does not find a block, you earn nothing. The variance is extreme: you may go years without a payout, or you may hit a block tomorrow.
Best for: Bitcoiners who view mining as participation in the network rather than a revenue stream. Bitaxe solo miners. Lottery miners. Cypherpunks who want non-KYC sats. Anyone who believes every hash counts.
The Decentralization Problem
Satoshi Nakamoto’s whitepaper describes a system where distributed miners independently validate transactions and compete to produce blocks. The security model assumes no single entity controls a majority of hashrate. That assumption is under severe pressure in 2026.
Current Hashrate Distribution (2026)
The Bitcoin network now exceeds 1,000 EH/s (one zettahash per second) of total mining power. Here is how that hashrate is distributed among the major pools:
| Pool | Est. Hashrate | Network Share |
|---|---|---|
| Foundry USA | ~280–320 EH/s | ~30% |
| AntPool | ~190 EH/s | ~19% |
| ViaBTC | ~120–145 EH/s | ~14% |
| F2Pool | ~110 EH/s | ~10% |
| MARA Pool | ~60 EH/s | ~5% |
| Braiins Pool | ~30–40 EH/s | ~3% |
| OCEAN | ~15–25 EH/s | ~2% |
| All Others | ~150+ EH/s | ~17% |
Hashrate estimates based on block production data. Actual figures fluctuate daily. Check mempool.space/mining for live data.
Why Pool Concentration Is Dangerous
Look at those numbers. Foundry USA and AntPool together control approximately 49% of Bitcoin’s hashrate. Add ViaBTC and F2Pool, and four pools control roughly 73%. Six pools mine over 80% of all blocks.
This level of concentration creates several serious risks:
51% Attack Surface: If two pool operators colluded — or if a single pool were compromised — they could theoretically execute double-spend attacks or selectively censor transactions. The miners in those pools may not consent, but the pool operator controls the block template. The hardware owners are along for the ride.
Transaction Censorship: Pool operators choose which transactions go into their block templates. A pool under regulatory pressure could be compelled to exclude transactions from sanctioned addresses, specific protocols, or certain transaction types. If that pool controls 30% of hashrate, those transactions face significant confirmation delays. If multiple pools comply, censorship becomes systemic.
Infrastructure Single Points of Failure: In January 2025, a severe winter storm in the United States caused Foundry USA’s hashrate to drop by approximately 60% — roughly 200 EH/s going offline in a matter of hours. When a single pool represents 30% of global hashrate and its miners are geographically concentrated, a regional event becomes a network-wide disruption: block times stretched, fees spiked, and the difficulty adjustment lagged behind reality.
Hidden Centralization: The problem is worse than the numbers suggest. Proxy pooling — where smaller pools route their hashrate through larger pools behind the scenes — means the actual concentration is higher than block production data reveals. Some “independent” pools are effectively sub-pools of AntPool or Foundry, making the true distribution even more lopsided.
The Case for Smaller Pools
Every miner who moves hashrate from a dominant pool to a smaller, independent pool improves Bitcoin’s resilience. Yes, smaller pools find blocks less frequently, which means higher payout variance. But that variance is a mathematical property of sample size, not a reduction in expected earnings. Over time, your expected per-hash earnings are the same regardless of pool size (minus fee differences). The variance smooths out.
What does not smooth out is the damage caused by centralization. A network where three entities control 60%+ of hashrate is not the censorship-resistant system described in the whitepaper. It is a system that has traded its core security properties for the convenience of predictable daily payouts.
Pool-by-Pool Deep Dive
OCEAN (ocean.xyz) — The Decentralization Champion
Founded: November 2023
Founder: Luke Dashjr (Bitcoin Core/Knots developer) & Bitcoin Mechanic
Payout Method: TIDES
Fee: 2% (1% with DATUM)
Minimum Payout: ~0.01 BTC on-chain / lower via Lightning (BOLT12)
Custodial: Non-custodial
Stratum V2: Supported (via DATUM)
Network Share: ~2%
OCEAN is not just a mining pool. It is a statement about what Bitcoin mining should look like. Backed by a $6.2 million seed round led by Jack Dorsey, OCEAN was built by Luke Dashjr — one of the longest-serving Bitcoin Core developers — to address the centralization problems described above, from the protocol level up.
Non-custodial payouts: This is OCEAN’s most radical feature. Unlike every other major pool where the operator collects the block reward into their own wallet and then distributes it to miners (custodially), OCEAN structures the coinbase transaction so that miners are paid directly. The pool never holds your sats. The reward flows from the Bitcoin protocol to your wallet address without an intermediary custody step. This eliminates counterparty risk — if OCEAN went offline tomorrow, your already-earned rewards are already in your wallet.
DATUM (Decentralized Alternative Templates for Universal Mining): OCEAN’s block template construction system allows miners running a DATUM Gateway to build their own block templates rather than accepting the pool’s template. This means individual miners decide which transactions to include in their blocks — a fundamental shift in power away from the pool operator and back to the hardware owner. Running DATUM also cuts your pool fee in half (from 2% to 1%).
Transparency: Every block template, every payout calculation, every share is auditable. The TIDES system produces mathematically verifiable rewards. Miners do not need to trust OCEAN’s honesty — they can verify it independently.
The tradeoffs: OCEAN is a smaller pool (~2% of hashrate), which means higher payout variance. The minimum on-chain payout threshold (~0.01 BTC) is higher than most pools, though Lightning payouts via BOLT12 help smaller miners receive more frequent payments. And OCEAN has generated controversy — its early block templates filtered certain transaction types (Ordinals/Inscriptions), which some in the community viewed as censorship, though OCEAN argued it was spam filtering. This policy has since been revisited.
Braiins Pool — The Transparency Pioneer
Founded: 2010 (as Slush Pool — the first Bitcoin mining pool ever created)
Payout Methods: FPPS (2% fee), PPLNS (0% fee)
Minimum Payout: 0.001 BTC on-chain / no minimum via Lightning
Custodial: Yes (standard custodial model)
Stratum V2: Native support (co-developed the protocol)
Network Share: ~3%
Braiins Pool has earned its reputation through longevity, transparency, and technical innovation. As the original Bitcoin mining pool (launched in 2010 by Marek “Slush” Palatinus), it pioneered the concept of pooled mining and has been operating without interruption for over 15 years.
Stratum V2: Braiins co-developed the Stratum V2 protocol alongside Bitcoin developer Matt Corallo. Stratum V2 is a next-generation mining protocol that encrypts the connection between miners and pools (preventing man-in-the-middle attacks), improves data efficiency, and — crucially — enables miners to submit their own block templates. This last feature, called Job Declaration, means miners can decide which transactions go into their blocks, similar to OCEAN’s DATUM. Braiins Pool supports Stratum V2 natively.
Braiins OS+: Braiins develops its own open-source mining firmware (Braiins OS+) with autotuning capabilities that optimize ASIC performance and energy efficiency. Miners running Braiins OS+ get deep integration with Braiins Pool — automatic pool configuration, detailed per-device analytics, and optimized Stratum V2 connections. This hardware-to-pool integration is unique in the industry.
Dual payout options: Braiins offers both FPPS (with a 2% fee) and PPLNS (with 0% pool fee). The PPLNS option at zero fee is genuinely competitive — you receive the actual proportional share of found blocks with no pool cut. The tradeoff is variance, but for miners with patience, this can be the most economically efficient option. Lightning payouts are available daily with no fees and no minimum threshold.
The tradeoffs: Braiins Pool is a smaller pool (~3% of network hashrate), meaning higher block-finding variance on PPLNS. The pool is custodial (unlike OCEAN), so you trust Braiins to hold and distribute your rewards. And while Stratum V2 Job Declaration is technically supported, adoption of miner-built templates is still limited across the broader ecosystem.
Foundry USA — The Institutional Powerhouse
Founded: 2019
Parent Company: Digital Currency Group (DCG)
Payout Method: FPPS
Fee: 0% (publicly listed); institutional terms negotiated privately
Minimum Payout: 0.001 BTC
Custodial: Yes
Stratum V2: No
Network Share: ~30%
Foundry USA is the elephant in the room. Controlling approximately 30% of Bitcoin’s total hashrate, it is the single largest mining pool in the world — and it is not particularly close. Foundry is backed by Digital Currency Group (DCG), one of the most influential conglomerates in the cryptocurrency industry, and caters primarily to institutional and industrial-scale mining operations.
Why miners choose Foundry: The listed 0% fee is the headline number, though the real economics are more nuanced. Institutional clients negotiate custom terms during onboarding. The FPPS payout model means perfectly predictable daily settlements — critical for operations managing debt covenants, power purchase agreements, and investor reporting. Foundry also offers adjacent services: equipment financing, advisory, and grid integration support.
Regulatory alignment: Foundry is a US-based, regulated entity. For miners operating in jurisdictions where regulatory compliance is mandatory, or for publicly traded mining companies that need auditable pool relationships, Foundry is often the default choice. This is not a small consideration in 2026, as Bitcoin mining faces increasing regulatory scrutiny globally.
The centralization problem: Foundry’s dominance is the single largest concentration risk in Bitcoin mining today. A single pool controlling 30% of hashrate is dangerously close to the threshold where collusion or compromise could threaten network integrity. And because Foundry’s miners are heavily concentrated in the United States, geographic risks (storms, grid failures, regulatory actions) translate directly into network-wide disruptions. The January 2025 winter storm that knocked ~200 EH/s offline was a preview of this vulnerability.
No Stratum V2: Foundry does not support Stratum V2, meaning all block template construction is controlled by the pool operator. Miners on Foundry have no ability to choose which transactions their hashrate includes in blocks.
ViaBTC — Multi-Payout Flexibility
Founded: 2016
Payout Methods: PPS+ (default), PPLNS, SOLO
Fee: 4% PPS+ / 2% PPLNS / 2% SOLO
Minimum Payout: 0.001 BTC
Custodial: Yes
Stratum V2: No
Network Share: ~14%
ViaBTC is a China-founded pool that has grown into the third-largest by hashrate. Its primary differentiator is flexibility: miners can switch between PPS+, PPLNS, and even SOLO mining within the same platform, adapting their payout strategy to market conditions or personal preference.
Multi-payout optionality: The ability to toggle between PPS+ (stable base income plus variable transaction fees) and PPLNS (zero-fee proportional payouts) on the same pool is genuinely useful. During periods of high transaction fees, switching to PPLNS can capture more upside. During fee droughts, PPS+ provides stability. The SOLO option is available for miners wanting to lottery-mine with larger hardware.
Integrated ecosystem: ViaBTC operates CoinEx (a cryptocurrency exchange) and offers various mining-adjacent services. Withdrawal to CoinEx is seamless, which can be convenient but also raises questions about counterparty concentration — your pool and your exchange being the same entity.
The tradeoffs: Fees are on the higher end (4% for PPS+). No Stratum V2 support means the pool controls all block templates. ViaBTC’s significant hashrate share (~14%) makes it a contributor to centralization rather than a corrective force.
F2Pool — One of the Oldest
Founded: 2013
Payout Methods: FPPS (4% fee), PPS+ (2.5% fee), PPLNS (2% fee)
Minimum Payout: 0.001 BTC
Custodial: Yes
Stratum V2: No
Network Share: ~10%
F2Pool (also known as Discus Fish) is one of the oldest surviving Bitcoin mining pools, launched in 2013. It was the first Chinese mining pool and has maintained a consistent presence in the top 5 pools by hashrate for over a decade.
Multi-payout options: Like ViaBTC, F2Pool offers multiple payout models. The FPPS option at 4% provides maximum predictability; PPS+ at 2.5% balances stability with fee upside; and PPLNS at 2% minimizes the pool’s cut at the cost of higher variance.
Multi-coin support: F2Pool supports mining across dozens of proof-of-work cryptocurrencies. While this guide focuses on Bitcoin, miners with diversified operations may value the single-platform convenience.
Controversy history: F2Pool has faced scrutiny over the years. In 2023, the pool admitted to running an MEV-like transaction reordering mechanism that prioritized certain transactions for profit. The mechanism was removed after community backlash, but the incident highlighted a fundamental issue: when you trust a pool to build your block templates, you trust them not to game the system for their own benefit.
The tradeoffs: Higher fees than many competitors (especially on FPPS). No Stratum V2 support. Past transparency issues. Still commands ~10% of hashrate, contributing to centralization.
AntPool — The Bitmain Connection
Founded: 2014
Parent Company: Bitmain Technologies
Payout Methods: FPPS (2.5% fee), PPLNS (variable, lower fee)
Minimum Payout: 0.001 BTC
Custodial: Yes
Stratum V2: No
Network Share: ~19%
AntPool is operated by Bitmain, the largest manufacturer of Bitcoin mining hardware (Antminer series). This vertical integration — the company that builds the hardware also runs one of the largest pools — is both AntPool’s primary advantage and its most concerning feature.
Bitmain integration: New Antminer purchases often ship with pre-configured AntPool settings, creating a default-bias pipeline that funnels hashrate to AntPool automatically. Bitmain’s firmware updates and management tools integrate smoothly with AntPool. For miners running exclusively Antminer hardware, the plug-and-play convenience is real.
Hidden centralization amplifier: AntPool’s influence extends beyond its stated ~19% hashrate share. Research has shown that several smaller pools operate as proxy pools, routing their hashrate through AntPool’s infrastructure. This means AntPool’s actual influence over block production is likely higher than its public numbers suggest.
The conflict of interest: A hardware manufacturer running a dominant mining pool creates structural incentive conflicts. Bitmain can direct hashrate from its own mining operations, influence pool defaults through firmware, and leverage its market position to maintain pool dominance. This is the exact opposite of the decentralized, permissionless mining ecosystem Bitcoin was designed to create.
MARA Pool — Marathon Digital’s Private Pool
Founded: 2021
Parent Company: Marathon Digital Holdings (MARA)
Payout Method: Internal (FPPS-equivalent)
Fee: N/A (private pool)
Public Access: Closed — Marathon-only
Network Share: ~5%
MARA Pool is Marathon Digital’s proprietary mining pool, used exclusively for its own mining operations. It is not available to the general public. We include it here because its ~5% hashrate share makes it a significant player in the distribution landscape, and because Marathon’s approach — building a vertically integrated, publicly traded mining company with its own pool — represents the institutional end of the mining spectrum.
Marathon retains 100% of block rewards and transaction fees by operating its own pool, eliminating external pool fees entirely. The pool’s hashrate reached approximately 60 EH/s in late 2025 and continues to grow as Marathon expands its operations.
What it means for you: You cannot mine on MARA Pool. But its existence means ~5% of Bitcoin’s hashrate is controlled by a single publicly traded company, subject to the regulatory pressures, shareholder demands, and compliance requirements of a US-listed corporation. This is the opposite end of the spectrum from solo mining your Bitaxe at home.
Solo CKPool — The Solo Miner’s Infrastructure
Founded: 2014
Developer: Con Kolivas (ckpool/cgminer developer)
Payout Method: Solo (100% of block reward minus fee)
Fee: 2%
Minimum Payout: Full block reward (no partial payouts)
Custodial: Non-custodial (coinbase pays miner directly, minus fee)
Network Share: Small (variable — depends on connected miners)
Solo CKPool is not a mining pool in the traditional sense. It is solo mining infrastructure — a service that handles the Stratum protocol, block template construction, and network communication so that solo miners do not need to run their own Bitcoin node and mining software stack. When a miner connected to Solo CKPool finds a valid block, the coinbase transaction pays the miner’s address directly (minus a 2% service fee). There is no reward splitting with other miners.
For serious solo miners: Solo CKPool supports anonymous mining (no registration required), handles the technical complexity of block submission, and has facilitated dozens of solo block wins over the years. It is the go-to infrastructure for miners running full ASICs (S19s, S21s) who want to lottery-mine with real hardware.
Recent solo wins: In 2025, over 22 solo miners found blocks through Solo CKPool, including miners running hardware as small as 480 GH/s. These block wins — worth over $250,000 each — demonstrate that solo mining is not just theoretical. The odds are long, but they are real.
Pool Comparison Table
| Pool | Payout | Fee | Min. Payout | Stratum V2 | Non-Custodial | Network % | Founded |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OCEAN | TIDES | 2% (1% w/ DATUM) | ~0.01 BTC | Yes (DATUM) | Yes | ~2% | 2023 |
| Braiins Pool | FPPS / PPLNS | 2% FPPS / 0% PPLNS | 0.001 BTC | Yes (native) | No | ~3% | 2010 |
| Foundry USA | FPPS | 0% (listed) | 0.001 BTC | No | No | ~30% | 2019 |
| ViaBTC | PPS+ / PPLNS / Solo | 4% PPS+ / 2% PPLNS | 0.001 BTC | No | No | ~14% | 2016 |
| F2Pool | FPPS / PPS+ / PPLNS | 4% FPPS / 2.5% PPS+ | 0.001 BTC | No | No | ~10% | 2013 |
| AntPool | FPPS / PPLNS | 2.5% FPPS | 0.001 BTC | No | No | ~19% | 2014 |
| MARA Pool | Internal FPPS | N/A (private) | N/A | No | N/A | ~5% | 2021 |
| Solo CKPool | Solo | 2% | Full block | No | Yes | <1% | 2014 |
| public-pool.io | Solo | 0% | Full block | No | Yes | <0.1% | 2023 |
Fee and payout data current as of early 2026. Pool terms change — always verify on the pool’s official site before committing hashrate.
Which Pool Should You Choose?
There is no universally correct answer. The right pool depends on your priorities, your hardware scale, and your values. Use this decision framework to narrow your choice:
The Decision Tree
Priority: Decentralization above all else
- OCEAN — Non-custodial payouts, transparent TIDES system, miner-built block templates via DATUM. The most philosophically aligned pool for miners who take Bitcoin’s decentralization mission seriously.
- Runner-up: Braiins Pool — First pool ever, Stratum V2 native, small network share. The 0% PPLNS option is economically compelling.
Priority: Maximum earnings predictability
- Foundry USA — 0% listed fee on FPPS, largest pool (most frequent blocks = lowest variance). The institutional standard.
- Runner-up: AntPool (FPPS at 2.5%) or Braiins Pool (FPPS at 2%).
- Consider: Splitting hashrate — 70% to a larger pool for baseline predictability, 30% to OCEAN or Braiins for decentralization contribution.
Priority: Firmware integration and performance optimization
- Braiins Pool + Braiins OS+ — Autotuning firmware, native Stratum V2, per-device analytics. The tightest hardware-to-pool integration available.
Priority: US regulatory compliance
- Foundry USA — US-based, DCG-backed, regulatory-aligned. The standard for publicly traded miners and operations requiring auditable pool relationships.
Priority: Payout method flexibility
- ViaBTC or F2Pool — Both offer multiple payout modes (PPS+, PPLNS, FPPS) switchable within the platform.
Priority: Solo mining / lottery mining
- Full ASICs: Solo CKPool (2% fee, robust infrastructure, no registration required)
- Bitaxe / open-source miners: public-pool.io (0% fee, open-source, community-driven, optimized for small miners)
Priority: Lowest fees
- Braiins Pool PPLNS at 0% fee
- Foundry USA FPPS at 0% listed fee
- public-pool.io at 0% fee (solo mining only)
Setting Up Your Mining Pool Connection
Connecting your miner to a pool is straightforward. The configuration requires three pieces of information, entered in your miner’s web interface or firmware configuration:
1. Stratum URL (Pool Address)
This is the server address your miner connects to. Each pool provides one or more Stratum URLs, typically with a port number. Common formats:
OCEAN: stratum+tcp://mine.ocean.xyz:3334 Braiins Pool: stratum+tcp://stratum.braiins.com:3333 Foundry USA: stratum+tcp://btc.foundryusapool.com:3333 ViaBTC: stratum+tcp://btc.viabtc.com:3333 F2Pool: stratum+tcp://btc.f2pool.com:3333 AntPool: stratum+tcp://stratum.antpool.com:3333 Solo CKPool: stratum+tcp://solo.ckpool.org:3333 public-pool.io: stratum+tcp://public-pool.io:21496
Always use the pool’s current official URLs — these may change. Check each pool’s “Getting Started” or documentation page.
2. Worker Name
Most pools use the format username.workername or btc_address.workername. The worker name identifies your individual miner so you can track its performance separately if you run multiple machines.
# Account-based pools (Foundry, ViaBTC, F2Pool, AntPool): myaccount.worker1 # Address-based pools (OCEAN, Solo CKPool, public-pool.io): bc1qyourbitcoinaddress.workshop_s19 # Braiins Pool (supports both): myaccount.worker1 bc1qyourbitcoinaddress.worker1
3. Bitcoin Address for Payouts
For address-based pools (OCEAN, Solo CKPool, public-pool.io), your Bitcoin address is part of the worker configuration — the pool pays directly to this address. For account-based pools, you configure your payout address in the pool’s web dashboard after creating an account.
Use a Bech32 (bc1q/bc1p) address. Native SegWit addresses have the lowest transaction fees for receiving payouts. If you are serious about self-sovereignty, use an address from your own wallet (hardware wallet or full node) — not an exchange deposit address.
Pool-Specific Configuration Notes
- OCEAN: No account registration required. Set your Bitcoin address as the username. For DATUM, you will need to run a DATUM Gateway on your local network. See OCEAN’s documentation for setup instructions.
- Braiins Pool: If using Braiins OS+ firmware, pool configuration is integrated into the firmware setup wizard. For Stratum V2, use the dedicated SV2 port (check Braiins Academy for current port numbers).
- Foundry USA: Requires account creation and onboarding approval. Not a “plug and mine” pool — you need to apply for access.
- public-pool.io: No registration. Set your Bitcoin address as the username. Optimized for Bitaxe and small miners — the de facto community solo pool for open-source hardware.
Monitoring Your Pool Performance
Once your miner is connected, you need to monitor whether the pool is performing as expected. Pool dashboards show various metrics, but here are the ones that actually matter:
Expected vs. Actual Earnings
Calculate your expected daily earnings based on your hashrate, the current network difficulty, and the block reward:
Daily BTC = (Your Hashrate / Network Hashrate) x 144 blocks x 3.125 BTC
Example (100 TH/s ASIC):
Daily BTC = (100 TH/s / 800,000,000 TH/s) x 144 x 3.125
Daily BTC = 0.0000000563 BTC (before fees)
≈ 5,630 sats/day
Compare this theoretical number to your actual pool earnings over a 7-day or 30-day period. Short-term deviations are normal (luck variance), but if your actual earnings are consistently more than 3-5% below expected over a 30-day window, investigate — check pool fee accuracy, stale share rates, and whether the pool’s reported hashrate for your worker matches your device’s output.
Understanding Luck and Variance
Pool luck measures whether a pool is finding blocks faster or slower than the statistical expectation. A luck value of 100% means the pool is finding blocks exactly at the expected rate. Below 100% means the pool is “lucky” (finding blocks faster than expected on most dashboards, though some pools invert this notation). Above 100% means unlucky.
Luck is a purely random variable. A pool at 120% luck this week might be at 85% next week. Over long periods, luck converges toward 100%. If you are on a PPLNS or TIDES pool, short-term luck affects your short-term payouts but not your long-term expected earnings.
On FPPS/PPS+ pools, luck does not affect your payouts. The pool absorbs the variance. This is what you are paying the higher fee for.
When to Switch Pools
Consider switching pools if:
- Your actual earnings are consistently below expected over 30+ days (after accounting for fees)
- The pool’s stale/rejected share rate is above 2-3%
- The pool experiences frequent downtime or connectivity issues
- The pool changes its fee structure or terms without adequate notice
- You learn the pool is engaging in practices you disagree with (transaction filtering, proxy pooling, etc.)
- The pool’s network share has grown to the point where your continued participation contributes to dangerous centralization
Do not switch pools based on short-term luck variance. A week of “bad luck” on a PPLNS pool is not a reason to change — it is expected statistical behavior.
Solo Mining Pools: The Lottery Ticket Approach
Solo mining pools are a distinct category that deserves special attention, particularly for the home mining community. These are not pools in the traditional sense — they do not split rewards among participants. Instead, they provide the Stratum infrastructure that allows individual miners to submit work without running their own full Bitcoin node and mining software.
public-pool.io
Public Pool is the community’s go-to solo mining infrastructure, particularly for Bitaxe and open-source mining devices. Key features:
- Zero fees — the entire block reward goes to the miner who finds a block
- Open-source — the pool software is publicly available, auditable, and can be self-hosted
- Self-hostable — you can run your own Public Pool instance on an Umbrel home server, pointing your miners at your own node
- Bitaxe optimized — designed to work seamlessly with Bitaxe and other low-hashrate open-source miners
- Over 11,000 Bitaxe miners connected as of 2025
- No registration — set your Bitcoin address as the username and mine
Block wins: Open-source hardware mining through Public Pool has produced confirmed block wins, with Bitaxe devices and NerdQAxe miners finding full Bitcoin blocks worth over $250,000 each. A Bitaxe running at just 480 GH/s found a block in March 2025. A NerdQAxe++ found block 920440 while pointing at a self-hosted Public Pool instance. Combined payouts from open-source miner block wins have exceeded $1 million.
Solo CKPool
For miners running full ASICs (S19, S21, etc.) who want to solo mine with more substantial hashrate:
- 2% fee — deducted from the coinbase transaction when a block is found
- No registration required — anonymous mining
- Battle-tested — running since 2014, facilitated 22+ solo block wins in 2025 alone
- ~20,000 connected users contributing roughly 188 PH/s of hashrate
When Solo Mining Makes Sense
Solo mining is the right choice when:
- You view mining as participation in the Bitcoin network rather than a revenue optimization exercise
- You want non-KYC bitcoin — freshly mined sats with no counterparty or exchange involvement
- You are running a Bitaxe or open-source miner where the tiny daily pool payouts would barely cover transaction fees anyway
- You have surplus hashrate from ASICs that you can afford to lottery-mine without impacting your operating costs
- You believe in maximum decentralization — solo miners contribute hashrate that is not aggregated under any pool operator’s control
- You enjoy the thrill — every hash is a lottery ticket, and every block win is a community celebration
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I earn more on a larger pool?
No. Your expected earnings per hash are the same regardless of pool size, minus fee differences. Larger pools find blocks more frequently, so your payouts are more frequent and consistent (lower variance), but the total expected earnings over time are mathematically equivalent. The only real variable between pools is the fee structure.
What happens if my pool goes offline?
Your miner will stop submitting work and you will earn nothing until the connection is restored. Most mining firmware supports configuring backup pools — a secondary Stratum URL that the miner falls back to if the primary pool is unreachable. Always configure at least one backup pool. If you are on a custodial pool, any unpaid balance should be held in your account and paid out when the pool comes back online — though in a worst-case scenario (pool insolvency), unpaid balances on custodial pools could be lost. This is another argument for non-custodial pools like OCEAN.
Can I mine on multiple pools simultaneously?
Yes, if you have multiple mining devices. Each device connects to one pool at a time, but different devices can point to different pools. This is the hashrate splitting strategy we recommend — it improves network decentralization and reduces your dependency on any single pool operator. Some firmware (like Braiins OS+) also supports “pool failover” where the miner automatically switches between configured pools.
What is Stratum V2 and why does it matter?
Stratum V2 is a next-generation mining protocol that replaces the original Stratum (V1) protocol used since 2012. It brings three major improvements: (1) encrypted connections that prevent man-in-the-middle hashrate hijacking, (2) improved data efficiency that reduces bandwidth and latency, and (3) Job Declaration — the ability for miners to construct their own block templates. This last feature is transformative: it means miners, not pool operators, decide which transactions go into blocks. This decentralizes transaction selection even within a centralized pool. Currently, only OCEAN (via DATUM) and Braiins Pool natively support Stratum V2.
What is a “non-custodial” mining pool?
In a traditional (custodial) pool, the pool operator collects the entire block reward into their own wallet, then distributes portions to miners. The pool holds your sats until payout time — creating counterparty risk. In a non-custodial pool like OCEAN, the coinbase transaction is structured to pay miners directly. The pool never holds your earned bitcoin. If the pool disappears tomorrow, your already-confirmed payouts are safe in your wallet. Non-custodial pools are the only design that eliminates counterparty risk entirely.
Why are my pool earnings different from what a mining calculator shows?
Mining calculators provide theoretical expected earnings based on current difficulty and block reward. Real earnings diverge for several reasons: (1) pool fees reduce your take, (2) stale/rejected shares reduce your effective hashrate, (3) pool luck causes short-term variance, (4) network difficulty changes between recalculation periods, and (5) transaction fee income varies based on mempool conditions. For FPPS pools, earnings should be close to calculators (minus fees). For PPLNS pools, short-term earnings can swing 20-30% above or below expectations.
Is it safe to mine on a pool based in a different country?
Technically, yes — the Stratum protocol works globally with minimal latency impact. The real considerations are jurisdictional: if a pool operator is compelled by their government to freeze accounts, implement KYC, or censor transactions, your hashrate is affected. Mining on a non-custodial pool (OCEAN) or using miner-built block templates (Stratum V2/DATUM) mitigates the jurisdictional risk because the pool never holds your funds and you control your own transaction selection.
Should I use Lightning payouts?
If your pool supports Lightning payouts (Braiins and OCEAN both do), it is worth considering — especially for smaller miners. Lightning payouts have lower or zero withdrawal fees, no minimum thresholds (on Braiins), and near-instant settlement. The tradeoff is that Lightning channels add complexity and your sats are in a Lightning wallet rather than a standard on-chain address. For most home miners, Lightning payouts from Braiins Pool are an excellent way to receive frequent, low-fee payments without waiting to accumulate the on-chain minimum threshold.
How do I verify that my pool is paying me correctly?
For FPPS/PPS+ pools: calculate your theoretical daily earnings based on your hashrate and the current FPPS rate, then compare to your actual payouts over 7-30 days. They should be within 1-2% after accounting for stale shares. For OCEAN’s TIDES: use the publicly available TIDES data to independently verify your exact payout share — the system is designed for this. For PPLNS: your earnings will vary with luck, but over 30+ days should converge toward the theoretical mean. If you consistently earn less than expected, check your stale share rate, verify your reported hashrate matches your device output, and contact pool support.
What is the best pool for a Bitaxe?
For solo mining (most popular for Bitaxe): public-pool.io — zero fees, open-source, optimized for small miners, and home to 11,000+ Bitaxe devices. For pooled mining (if you want small but steady payouts): OCEAN — non-custodial and decentralization-aligned, though note the higher minimum payout threshold (~0.01 BTC). Alternatively, Braiins Pool with Lightning payouts eliminates the minimum threshold concern entirely. Most Bitaxe owners prefer solo mining on public-pool.io because the daily pooled earnings from ~500 GH/s are negligible anyway, and the chance of finding a full block is the real draw.
Why D-Central: Every Hash Counts
D-Central Technologies has been in the Bitcoin mining business since 2016. We are not a faceless e-commerce store — we are Bitcoin Mining Hackers. We take institutional-grade mining technology and hack it into accessible solutions for home miners, pleb miners, and anyone who believes that Bitcoin’s security depends on distributed hashrate, not concentrated power.
We carry every Bitaxe variant (Supra, Ultra, Hex, Gamma, GT), every NerdAxe and NerdQAxe model, complete accessory lineups, and full ASIC miners from Antminer and Whatsminer. We pioneered the original Bitaxe Mesh Stand and developed many of the leading Bitaxe heatsinks and accessories. We repair ASICs at our facility in Laval, Quebec. We know this hardware inside and out because we use it, modify it, and push it beyond factory spec every day.
Our position on mining pools is the same as our position on everything else: decentralize it. Point your ASICs at smaller, transparent pools. Solo mine your Bitaxe. Run a DATUM Gateway. Host your own Public Pool instance. Every hash that goes to an independent operator instead of the top two pools makes Bitcoin more resilient, more censorship-resistant, and more aligned with the system Satoshi designed.
Your hardware. Your hashrate. Your choice. Make it count.
Every hash counts.
