Bitcoin Mining Firmware Feature Matrix Dataset — Stock vs BraiinsOS+ vs VNish vs LuxOS vs DCENT_OS

This dataset is published under CC BY 4.0. Cite freely; attribution required.

The data below reflects the state of each firmware as documented in D-Central’s internal research archive (the Bitcoin Mining Hack Bible, compiled through direct hardware analysis and public technical documentation). DCENT_OS rows reflect closed-beta target specifications; all other firmware rows reflect published, verifiable behaviour as of 2026 — always verify current values at the vendor’s official documentation. Numbers marked with † are sourced from manufacturer or vendor documentation and may change with new firmware releases. Numbers marked with ‡ are DCENT_OS closed-beta target specifications, not publicly released capabilities.

Download & API

• firmware-feature-matrix.csv — CSV, all feature rows
• firmware-feature-matrix.json — JSON, same data, machine-readable
• REST API: GET /wp-json/dc/v1/firmware-features — returns full dataset as JSON array
• REST API with firmware filter: GET /wp-json/dc/v1/firmware-features?firmware=braiins — accepted values: stock, braiins, vnish, luxos, dcent_os
• REST API with category filter: GET /wp-json/dc/v1/firmware-features?category=autotuning

Source dataset and methodology: D-Central Open Data Hub · Related: Firmware Comparison Hub · BraiinsOS+ vs VNish vs LuxOS — Full Comparison 2026

Interactive Feature Table

Filter by firmware or category. All data citable; see cite this dataset.

† Vendor-documented value; subject to change with firmware updates. Verify at vendor source before deployment. ‡ DCENT_OS: closed beta, GPL-3.0 — target specification, not yet publicly released. Public beta targeted summer 2026. Data current as of 2026; verify at project source for latest status.

Chip Management

The most consequential firmware distinction for performance is how granularly the software controls each ASIC chip. Voltage regulation in Antminer hardware is implemented at the domain level — a single DC-DC converter supplies a group of chips (BM1366: 11 domains, ~10 chips per domain; BM1368: 12 domains, ~9 chips per domain; BM1370: 13 domains, ~7 chips per domain). No current firmware — including BraiinsOS+, VNish, or LuxOS — controls voltage per individual chip; they all operate per-domain. Frequency tuning, however, is addressable per chip via PLL register writes.

This distinction matters because marketing language often conflates “per-chip autotuning” (real, refers to frequency) with “per-chip voltage control” (not real — it is per-domain). D-Central publishes this correction because accuracy serves the community better than inflated claims.

Developer Fees

Dev fees redirect a portion of your miner’s hashrate to the firmware developer’s mining pool. Rates as documented — all figures are ranges and subject to change; always verify at the vendor’s official documentation:†

• Stock (Bitmain): 0%
• BraiinsOS+: 2–2.5%† (varies by pool and plan — verify current rates at braiins.com)
• VNish: 2–2.8%† (varies by model and configuration — verify at vnish.com)
• LuxOS: 2.8%† (verify at luxor.tech)
• DCENT_OS [closed beta]: 0% by default; configurable optional donation field (user sets any %; defaults to 0%)

At 100 TH/s over a 3-year miner lifetime, a 2.8% dev fee represents meaningful hashrate loss. The firmware TCO calculator at Firmware Comparison Hub models this.

Stratum Protocol Support

Stratum V2 is a redesigned mining protocol that brings encrypted connections, reduced bandwidth, and — critically for sovereignty — miner-side block-template construction via the Job Declaration extension. As of 2026:

• BraiinsOS+ is the only commercially deployed firmware with native Stratum V2 support
• Stock, VNish, LuxOS use Stratum V1 only
• DCENT_OS [closed beta] targets native Stratum V2 + DATUM (OCEAN protocol) support — both remain target specifications at this stage

The Per-Domain Voltage Correction

A widespread misconception in firmware marketing is that autotuning software provides “per-chip voltage control.” The hardware architecture does not support this on any current Antminer generation:

• BM1366 (S19 XP): 11 voltage domains, ~10 chips per domain
• BM1368 (S21): 12 voltage domains, ~9 chips per domain
• BM1370 (S21 XP): 13 voltage domains, ~7 chips per domain

Each domain is supplied by a single DC-DC converter. All firmware — BraiinsOS+, VNish, LuxOS, and DCENT_OS (target) — adjust voltage at the domain level. Per-chip frequency tuning is real and is done via PLL register addressing. The two are separate hardware paths. Autotuner operating points are calculated at runtime per chip — they are not preset factory values.

D-Central publishes this correction because the wider mining community has repeated the “per-chip voltage” phrasing uncritically, and accuracy is the foundation of informed purchasing decisions.

Open-Source Licensing

The “open source” label is applied inconsistently across the firmware ecosystem. The accurate breakdown:

• Stock (Bitmain): Partial. Older models (S9 era) had source published. S11/S15/S17+ source has not been released — a noted GPL compliance gap. The Angstrom/Yocto base is open; bmminer is a CGMiner fork.
• BraiinsOS+: Partial. The BCB100 control board hardware is fully open source (GPLv3 + CERN-OHL-S, released March 2025 — github.com/braiins/BCB100). The OpenWrt base and gRPC API definitions are open. The BOSminer binary, boser daemon, and web UI are proprietary closed binaries distributed via bos-assets. The BCB100 release is a significant contribution to the mining community.
• VNish: Closed source. Commercial firmware; no source published.
• LuxOS: Closed source. Commercial firmware by Luxor Technology Corporation; SOC 2 Type 2 certified†.
• DCENT_OS [closed beta]: GPL-3.0, full source. Target: no proprietary blobs beyond FPGA bitstreams mandated by silicon vendors. Public beta targeted for summer 2026.

The BCB100 open-hardware release by Braiins is a foundational contribution to the mining community and deserves recognition as a meaningful step toward open infrastructure. D-Central’s DCENT_OS builds on the open-source ecosystem these projects helped establish — including Braiins (BCB100, bmminer), the 256 Foundation (Mujina), and the ESP-Miner project.

110V / 120V Household Power

Standard North American household outlets deliver 120V (Canada/US). Most ASIC miners require 200–240V circuits. LuxOS introduced PSU bypass mode for the APW12 power supply, allowing S19-generation miners to operate at 110–120V by bypassing the power-factor correction stage. This is a hardware modification path enabled by software — not a purely software feature. Stock, BraiinsOS+, and VNish do not support 110V operation.

DCENT_OS targets the same 110V capability as a differentiating feature for Canadian home miners. Related: ASIC Power Profiles Database · ASIC Field Manual

Curtailment & Demand Response

Curtailment is the ability to ramp a miner’s power consumption down rapidly in response to grid signals, electricity price spikes, or operator commands — and then recover. Speed matters for demand-response programmes.

• Stock: No curtailment API
• BraiinsOS+: ~30 seconds down, ~60 seconds up (via gRPC)†
• VNish: ~15 seconds down, ~30 seconds up (via REST)†
• LuxOS: <5 seconds down, <60 seconds up — fastest of any production firmware as of 2026†
• DCENT_OS [closed beta]: Target <5 seconds down, <60 seconds up; current beta implements scheduled curtailment sleep windows and night-mode power-reduction time windows (config.rs). A full arbitrary time-based mode scheduler is planned future work and is not yet shipped.‡

Frequently asked questions

What is the developer fee for BraiinsOS+?

BraiinsOS+ charges a developer fee in the range of 2–2.5% of hashrate, redirected to Braiins’ pool.† The exact rate varies by firmware version, pool configuration, and subscription plan. Always verify the current rate in the official BraiinsOS documentation before deploying at scale. VNish charges 2–2.8%†; LuxOS charges 2.8%†; Stock Bitmain firmware charges 0%; DCENT_OS (closed beta) defaults to 0% with a user-configurable optional donation field. Dev fees are ranges, not flat numbers — fee structures change across firmware versions.

Which firmware supports Stratum V2?

BraiinsOS+ is the only currently available production firmware with native Stratum V2 support for Antminer hardware. Stock Bitmain firmware, VNish, and LuxOS use Stratum V1 only. Stratum V2 provides encrypted connections, lower bandwidth overhead, and — via the Job Declaration extension — allows miners to construct their own block templates rather than accepting templates from the pool operator. DCENT_OS (closed beta) targets Stratum V2 + DATUM protocol support; these remain target specifications, not yet publicly released capabilities. Related: Firmware Comparison Hub.

Which firmware works at 110V / 120V?

LuxOS is the first and currently the only production firmware to support 110V/120V household power operation on compatible Antminer models (S19 generation with APW12 PSU). This is achieved via PSU bypass mode, which skips the power factor correction stage and accepts 120V input directly — a hardware path enabled by the firmware. Stock Bitmain, BraiinsOS+, and VNish do not support 110V operation. DCENT_OS (closed beta) targets 110V support as a feature for Canadian home miners. If 120V operation is critical for your setup, verify hardware PSU compatibility before flashing any firmware. Related: ASIC Power Profiles Database.

Is any mining firmware truly open source?

Partially — and the answer is more nuanced than most comparisons acknowledge. BraiinsOS+ open-sourced the BCB100 control board hardware (GPLv3 + CERN-OHL-S, March 2025) and publishes gRPC API definitions, but the core mining binaries (BOSminer, boser, web UI) remain proprietary closed-source. Stock Bitmain firmware uses an open Angstrom/Yocto base but has not published source for S11+ models. VNish and LuxOS are fully proprietary. DCENT_OS (closed beta, GPL-3.0) is the only firmware in this comparison targeting 100% open-source code — with public beta planned for summer 2026. The BCB100 board open-source release by Braiins is a meaningful step for the ecosystem and is credited as such.

What does “per-chip autotuning” actually mean versus “per-chip voltage control”?

These are two different hardware paths that marketing language often conflates. Per-chip frequency tuning is real: firmware can address each ASIC chip individually via PLL registers and set independent clock frequencies. This is what BraiinsOS+, VNish, LuxOS, and DCENT_OS (target) all do. Per-chip voltage control does not exist in current Antminer hardware: voltage is regulated at the domain level, where one DC-DC converter supplies a group of chips (10 chips/domain on BM1366; 9 chips/domain on BM1368; 7 chips/domain on BM1370). No firmware can deliver different voltages to chips within the same domain — the hardware constraint is physical, not a software limitation. Autotuner operating points are calculated at runtime per chip — they are not preset factory values. D-Central publishes this correction to help operators make accurate comparisons.

What models does each firmware support?

Support varies by firmware and hardware generation:

• Stock: All Antminer models (by definition)
• BraiinsOS+: S19 family (Zynq + Amlogic boards), S19 XP, S21, T21, and expanding (verify current list at braiins.com)
• VNish: 23+ Antminer x19 models, S21, T21, L7, L9; expanding to WhatsMiner and Innosilicon†
• LuxOS: S19 and S21 generations (air-cooled and hydro-cooled models)† — verify at luxor.tech
• DCENT_OS [closed beta]: Phase 1 targets S19 XP (BM1366, Zynq board); Phase 2 targets S19j Pro, S21, S21 XP. See DCENT_OS documentation for current status.

What is the curtailment speed for each firmware?

Curtailment speed — how fast a miner can reduce power consumption on a signal — is critical for demand-response programmes. LuxOS achieves the fastest curtailment of any production firmware: power to near-idle in <5 seconds (down) and full restore in <60 seconds (up), achieved via immediate frequency drop plus voltage reduction.† BraiinsOS+ reaches reduced power in approximately 30 seconds via gRPC; VNish in approximately 15 seconds via REST. Stock Bitmain firmware has no curtailment API. DCENT_OS (closed beta) targets LuxOS-parity curtailment speeds; the current beta implements scheduled sleep windows and night-mode power-reduction windows but a full arbitrary time-based mode scheduler is planned future work, not yet shipped.‡

Cite this dataset

Methodology & Sources

This dataset was compiled from:

• D-Central Bitcoin Mining Hack Bible — internal reverse-engineering research archive covering Antminer hardware at the register level (FEATURE_COMPARISON_MATRIX.md, EXISTING_FIRMWARES.md)
• Braiins official documentation: docs.braiins.com; BCB100 open-hardware repo: github.com/braiins/BCB100; gRPC API repo: github.com/braiins/bos-plus-api
• LuxOS API documentation: docs.luxor.tech
• VNish official documentation: vnish.com
• Public ASIC chip register maps (BM1366, BM1368, BM1370, BM1397); ESP-Miner ASIC driver source (GPL-3.0); Mujina firmware PoC (256 Foundation, GPL-3.0)

DCENT_OS target specifications are D-Central internal design documents (closed beta). All target specs are labelled ‡ and do not represent shipped, publicly available software. All other firmware values reflect publicly documented, verifiable behaviour as of 2026 — values marked † should be verified at vendor documentation before citing, as firmware features and fee structures change with updates.

D-Central acknowledges the foundational work of the open-source mining community: Braiins (BraiinsOS, BCB100 open hardware, bmminer), the 256 Foundation (Mujina), the ESP-Miner project, and the skot/BM1397 register documentation project. The firmware landscape exists because these teams built the scaffolding others stand on.

Related resources: D-Central Open Data Hub · Firmware Comparison Hub · BraiinsOS+ vs VNish vs LuxOS Full Comparison 2026 · DCENT_OS Documentation · ASIC Power Profiles Database · ASIC Chip Reference · ASIC Field Manual · Mining Academy · Open-Source Miners Hub · Antminer S19 · Antminer S21