Some interesting changes are happening in the world of Bitcoin mining pools. With the hashrate dropping in favor of BCH, rankings of pools are shaken up as well. Slushpool is now the biggest Bitcoin mining operation open to the public. They generate over 20% of all blocks, which puts them ahead of AntPool, An interesting development, especially when considering what this means for the future.
For the past few years, Bitcoin mining was dominated by Chinese mining pools. This has always been a big problem in the eyes of many users. China has lost its dominant position in the Bitcoin world several months ago. It now appears they are no longer leading the mining scene either. Instead, Slushpool is now the biggest Bitcoin mining pool. That is a rather interesting development, to say the least. It is an interesting fact to keep in mind for the future.
Slushpool Scores Brownie Points With the Bitcoin Community
Although the mining focus is now on Bitcoin Cash, the bigger picture needs to be kept in mind at all times Bitcoin with SegWit isn’t going away whatsoever. In fact, it will probably remain the biggest cryptocurrency for some time to come. Slushpool rejected SegWit2x initially based on votes cast by its miners. They are not in favor of BCH either, as it is an altcoin. It is evident this particular pool firmly believes Bitcoin is fine the way it is and needs to be supported. Some people will gladly disagree on that front, though.
Overtaking Antpool as the biggest Bitcoin mining pool is a pretty big deal. It is the first time in a while a non-Chinese party leads the Bitcoin division in this regard. Slushpool also has also a far more solid reputation in the Bitcoin world. Back when the accidental fork occurred in 2013, the pool as the first to help out the network. Other pools decided to maintain their wait-and-see approach. It is evident they value the community first and foremost and couldn’t care less about quick profits. That hard work is now paying off, by the look of things.
It will be interesting to see how this affects Slushpool moving forward. They may attract a lot more hashpower in the near future. It is important to ensure the pool doesn’t grow too large either, otherwise, a new problem is created. It is very likely some miners will move over in the coming weeks. Especially with the Bitcoin Cash profitability adjustment coming soon, things will get very interesting. Moreover, their half-assed EDA will be gone tomorrow as well. An interesting future lies ahead for Bitcoin, that much is evident.
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