Software utilized in bitcoin mining projects is about to get its first major upgrade in roughly ten years, and financial companies – including Block (formerly known as Square) are looking to take advantage.
Bitcoin Mining Needs to Undergo Some Changes
One of the big issues surrounding bitcoin mining is that it operates on a proof of work (PoW) protocol, which many environmentalists think could lead the planet into a dark corner. Proof of work allegedly requires more energy than some countries, and it’s believed that if miners continue this path, the atmosphere is going to take a brutal beating.
Today, many bitcoin mining enterprises utilize software known as Stratum, which allegedly facilitates communication between miners, mining pools, and related crypto networks. It combines all the BTC hashing power throughout the world and secures it under a single roof. Stratum is then used by miners to not only submit their work but garner necessary rewards for extracting new units and adding them to the blockchain.
Now, a set of developers are releasing a new version of this software known as Stratum 2. Not only will it allegedly (albeit slowly) solve the environmental concerns so many people have expressed, but the software is also open source, meaning anyone can see it, use it, and even copy it if they so choose.
This is arguably what bitcoin has always been about. An open world where virtually anyone can step in and begin to benefit, and Steve Lee – a lead at Spiral – believes there are many advantages to the new software, which will lessen the use of data within the space, thus reducing how much energy is used. He commented in a recent interview:
[All] told, much less data needs to be transmitted between miners and pools, and this could help miners in remote regions of the world with poor internet. Working for industry wide adoption of the upgraded Stratum protocol is one of the most important developments in improving the decentralization and censorship resistance of bitcoin’s architecture.
Lee is also convinced the new software could pave the way for additional miners to step in, which could ultimately increase the level of power and the hash rate witnessed within the crypto space. He stated:
I’d anticipate a gradual increase in hash rate in 2023. Reaching ten percent hash rate by the end of 2023 would be a great success.
Stratum 2 May Need Some Time
While he’s confident in the new version of Stratum, he thinks it will take a long time for the software to really take precedence and be used on a wide basis. Jan Capek – the co-founder of a firm called Braiins – said:
Miners know the benefits of upgrading to Stratum V2 very well but pushing the entire mining industry over some of the remaining development and adoption hurdles is a big task.