Solo Bitcoin miner wins $200,000 reward amid rising issues about centralization

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A Bitcoin miner independently solved a BTC block and earned a reward of three.275 BTC, roughly equal to $200,000.

On August 29, Kon Kolivas, a software program engineer and administrator on the solo mining pool ckpool, introduced that miners on X had efficiently decrypted the 291st solo block in Bitcoin historical past. He congratulated the miners, stating:

“Congratulations to miner 36AisvWi1UiwLTeTZxLzindAkorqeUc3tT for fixing the 291st solo block on solo.ckpool.org. With 38PH, this highly effective miner solves a block roughly as soon as each 4 months on common.”

Blockchain knowledge confirmed that miners efficiently mined block quantity 858,978 on the Bitcoin blockchain, which contained 2,391 transactions.

Issues about centralization

The achievement comes at a time when issues in regards to the centralization of Bitcoin mining are rising inside the neighborhood.

Based on knowledge from BTC.com, 4 mining swimming pools – Foundry USA, AntPool, ViaBTC and F2Pool – have produced roughly 80% of Bitcoin blocks over the previous three days, elevating alarm amongst neighborhood members.

Bitcoin Mining
Distribution of Bitcoin mining swimming pools (Supply: BTC.com)

Foundry USA and AntPool alone account for over 50% of the blocks mined by these swimming pools.

This excessive degree of centralization has raised issues about Bitcoin's future. CasaHODL co-founder Jameson Lopp weighed in, explaining that the centralization of Bitcoin mining is a conflict between economies of scale and the decentralized nature of the power supply. Nevertheless, he’s optimistic that decentralization will finally win out.

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Specifically, the chance has been exacerbated by the current halving occasion, which noticed block mining rewards slashed in half, driving many smaller miners out of the market and leaving the business dominated by publicly-listed mining firms.

Bitfinex warns that this focus of mining energy might result in elevated vulnerability to censorship of transactions, in addition to coordinated assaults and regulatory strain.

“The focus of mining energy within the palms of some entities might result in elevated centralization, which is counter to the spirit of Bitcoin. The dangers of centralization might imply potential censorship of transactions and elevated vulnerability to coordinated assaults and regulatory strain.”

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