Mining pools are a critical part of the Bitcoin ecosystem. As miners compete to create net network blocks, they also confirm outstanding network transactions. With the majority of mining power coming from China, adding new mining pools could help distribute the workload. BTC.com announced their new pool which runs at 0% fees, for now.
Ever since Bitmain acquired Blocktrail, it was only a matter of time until the new BTC.com company would roll out its products. Although the company had existed as a block explorer and analytics platform before, the addition of a mining pool is quite interest resting. Combined with the existing Bitcoin wallet services, this creates a complete package of tools one may need.
BTC.Com Mining Pool Without Fees
What is even more intriguing about this new mining pool is how it has been open-sourced. Rather than using the traditional scripts and setup, BTC.com has developed an in-house mining pool software package. By open sourcing it, the team hopes to create a new standard for mining pools all over the world. Additionally, there are some performance tweaks, which will be music to the ears of Bitcoin miners.
After conducting some thorough tests of the BTC.com mining pool, the team opened it up to the public. During the beta testing, as much as 180,000 miners can hash away on the network at the same time. Assuming everyone would mine with the latest hardware, the BTC.com mining pool can handle more capacity on its own compared to the current Bitcoin network as a whole.
Some nifty features have been added to this platform as well. PoolWatcher will “snoop” on other mining pools to detect newfound blocks, reducing the number of invalid shares being submitted for blocks that no longer need solving. Large mining operations will find the BtcAgent feature intriguing, as it allows for easy monitoring.
For now, there are BTC.com servers set up in China and the US, with Europe and North America to be added shortly. Having multiple servers will allow miners from all over the world to reduce latency and improve productivity. There is also a mobile app for Android and iOS, letting users manage their miners.
But perhaps the biggest surprise is how there will be zero fees on the mining pool. In doing so, BTC.Com hopes to attract a lot of miners in the coming months. This offer will run until December 31, 2016, after which a 1.5% fee will be charged. That fee is still lower than most other mining pools around the world today.
Source: Bitmain
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