The sudden crackdown on cryptocurrencies, crypto mining, trading (spot and margin trading) and any and all crypto-related operations of the Chinese authorities in 2021, has gone on a rampage worldwide, especially in the Bitcoin mining sphere. It is not a secret that before the crypto ban, the People’s Republic of China was the leading epicenter for Bitcoin mining, which amounted to nearly 65% of the world’s BTC mining hash power. Now its Bitcon mining capacities are insignificant and the US is now the largest producer of hash rate capacities for Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc. The following article provides a brief analysis of the current Bitcoin mining situation, top and best performing mining pool sites, most efficient and best Bitcoin mining pool sites and their peculiarities.
Defintion of BTC Mining Pool
First and foremost, what is a BTC mining pool? Why is there so much hype about it? A Bitcoin mining pool (BTC pool) is an association operated and organized by a third party in an effort of managing BTC hash power from Bitcoin miners worldwide. To put it simply, a Bitcoin pool is a modus for Bitcoin miners to pull their hash power operating capabilities in totality and share the united hashing power and at the same time splitting the cryptographic reward in equal proportions on the grounds of the amount of valid block shares contributed to finding a block or blocks on the digital ledger. Let us view the top 10 BTC mining pool sites in accordance with pool distribution (calculated by blocks) since the inception of the BTC mining pool phenomenon onwards.
All-Time BTC Mining Pool Distribution
| Numeration | Pool | Hashrate Share | Blocks Mined | Empty Blocks Count | Empty Blocks Percentage | Avg. Block Size(Bytes) |
| 0 | NETWORK | 100.00% | 706,584 | 102,025 | 14.44% | 525,538 |
| 1 | Unknown | 31.87% | 225,219 | 96,403 | 42.80% | 73,829 |
| 2 | F2Pool | 9.39% | 66,359 | 1,082 | 1.63% | 793,756 |
| 3 | AntPool | 8.29% | 58,593 | 1,779 | 3.04% | 856,292 |
| 4 | BTC.com | 5.15% | 36,367 | 384 | 1.06% | 1,040,697 |
| 5 | Slush Pool | 5.04% | 35,616 | 218 | 0.61% | 643,074 |
| 6 | BTC Guild | 4.66% | 32,935 | 12 | 0.04% | 170,721 |
| 7 | ViaBTC | 3.40% | 24,041 | 81 | 0.34% | 1,037,984 |
| 8 | GHash.IO | 3.27% | 23,083 | 1 | 0.00% | 234,968 |
| 9 | Poolin | 3.02% | 21,326 | 66 | 0.31% | 1,143,080 |
| 10 | Bitfury | 2.76% | 19,513 | 0 | 0.00% | 760,368 |
Source: https://btc.com/stats/pool?pool_mode=all
Nevertheless, creating and representing a fair and illustrative Bitcoin mining pool equiparation is not an easy task, but rather a challenge. The most ubiquitous method to make a comparative analysis of the Bitcoin mining pools is by means of mining for a fixed period of time on one BTC mining pool and simultaneously switch for the identical timeframe to another Bitcoin mining pool and compare the received revenue, quantity of BTC mining hash rate submitted to each and every pool, the respective percentage of empty blocks, etc. Therefore, today’s Bitcoin mining pool analysis is built upon the BTC mining pool hashrate distribution over the past 24 hours (at the date of writing).
BTC Mining Pool Distribution Over the Last 24 Hours
| Numeration | Pool | Hashrate Share | Hashrate | Blocks Mined | Empty Blocks Count | Empty Blocks Percentage | Avg. Block Size(Bytes) |
| 0 | NETWORK | 100.00% | 156.63 EH/s | 181 | 1 | 0.55% | 1,148,183 |
| 1 | AntPool | 19.34% | 30.29 EH/s | 35 | 0 | 0.00% | 1,236,483 |
| 2 | F2Pool | 17.13% | 26.83 EH/s | 31 | 0 | 0.00% | 1,214,491 |
| 3 | Foundry USA | 14.92% | 23.36 EH/s | 27 | 0 | 0.00% | 1,147,663 |
| 4 | ViaBTC | 9.39% | 14.71 EH/s | 17 | 0 | 0.00% | 1,236,054 |
| 5 | Binance Pool | 8.84% | 13.85 EH/s | 16 | 0 | 0.00% | 1,201,039 |
| 6 | Unknown | 7.73% | 12.11 EH/s | 14 | 0 | 0.00% | 1,060,981 |
| 7 | BTC.com | 7.18% | 11.25 EH/s | 13 | 1 | 7.69% | 1,058,726 |
| 8 | SlushPool | 4.42% | 6.92 EH/s | 8 | 0 | 0.00% | 956,469 |
| 9 | SBI Crypto | 2.76% | 4.33 EH/s | 5 | 0 | 0.00% | 784,524 |
| 10 | MARA Pool | 2.21% | 3.46 EH/s | 4 | 0 | 0.00% | 826,624 |
Source: https://btc.com/stats/pool?pool_mode=day
Which Countries (Jurisdictions) Mine Majority of Bitcoins?
Until 2021, the Chinese based (located on the mainland) mining pools had mined the most Bitcoins (and these are bare facts) in the cryptocurrency mining sphere and the PRC was the undisputed pace-maker on the crypto mining arena. It is not a secret that the plurality of the Bitcoin mining hardware (newest and high-productive ASIC rigs) was geographically place in the mainland China due to the low cost of electricity expenses. But as of lately, the United States of America (USA) has taken the key role in Bitcoin mining boosted by the BTC (and crypto in general) mining crackdown in PRC, with reference to the statistical data from Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index published by Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance. Two years ago, the China’s share of the BTC mining hash power equaled unbelievable 75.5% in the crypto mining universe — the BTC mining pools worked to the maximum and the Chinese hegemony was unrivaled at that time.
Global BTC Mining Pool Hashrate Distribution by Countries
– The United States of America — 35.4%;
– Kazakhstan — 18.1%;
– Russian Federation — 11%;
– Canada — 9.55%;
– Ireland — 4.68%;
– Malaysia — 4.59%;
– Germany — 4.48%;
– Iran — 3.11%;
– Norway —0.58%.
Source: https://cbeci.org/mining_map
As far as you can see, China ousted from the list and now its Bitcoin mining hashrate equals nearly 0% in totality. The leading Chinese mining centers, including Sichuan, Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang, have all dumped ASIC mining machines or moved to Kazakhstan (the nearest crypto-friendly Asian region), Texas (US) or Europe.
How to Choose the Right Mining Pool?
These are some fundamental criteria for choosing and / or joining trend-setting Bitcoin mining pools. Some are good or the best — the decision is majorly dependent on your personal preferences and investment opportunities.
– Company reputation;
– Payment methods and regularity;
– Fees;
– Deposits and withdrawal options;
– Uptime efficacy;
– Geographical location and accessibility;
– Professional and multilingual support team;
– Seamless user experience and intuitive navigation;
Following these markdown criteria, the top 10 list of the most reliable BTC mining pools for beginners and professionals alike.
– AntPool;
– F2Pool;
– Foundry USA;
– ViaBTC;
– Binance Pool;
– BTC.com;
– SlushPool;
– SBI Crypto;
– MARA Pool;
– Bitfury.
Bitcoin Mining Pool Comparison
#1 AntPool
Owned and operated by the Bitmain corporation group, AntPool is one of the oldest (launched in 2014) and recognized cryptocurrency mining pools operating worldwide. The pool mines nearly 20% of all blocks on the Bitcoin blockchain network. The servers are set up in the United States, Russia, Germany, Dubai, England, etc.
Pros
– The BTC mining pool supports both PPS+ and PPLNS earnings modes.
– Simple UI and set up.
– Automatic settlement and payout on a daily basis.
Cons
– Smaller payouts by contrast with other market competitors.
#2 F2Pool
F2Pool (launched in year 2013) is the 2d biggest BTC mining pool website, with approximately 26% of the network BTC mining hashrate / hash power. The site services are accessible in the Russian Federation, Canada, and the United States of America.
Pros
– Multicurrency support for over 40 cryptocurrencies.
– The pool calculates mining revenues using the PPS+ system.
– Payout within 24 hours.
– Robust security.
Cons
– High fees
#3 Foundry USA
Foundry USA (launched two years ago) is a US-based Bitcoin mining pool owned by EU firm Foundry Digital. They account for almost 15% of all hashing power shares.
Pros
– Full Pay Per Share (FPPS) payout method.
Cons
– The major focus is on institutional mining businesses.
#4 ViaBTC
ViaBTC is (launched back in the 2016 year) is a famous cryptocurrency mining pool with a worldwide presence consisting of servers scattered in more than 130 countries. It mines nearly 10% of all blocks.
Pros
– PPS+ and PPLNS payment models
– Stable and higher payouts for miners
Cons
– Renders support only from tickets.
#5 Binance Pool
Binance Pool (launched in the early 2020) is powered by the Malta-based Binance crypto trading platform. It mines about 9% of the BTC hashrate share.
Pros
– Maintains both FPPS and PPS+ reward models.
– Multilingual tech support.
– Guaranteed daily payments of the mined coins.
Cons
– Scarce statistics and hashrate monitoring.
– Security issues.
#6 BTC.com
The BTC.com public BTC mining pool (launched in September 2016) mines more than 7% of blocks. It is a medium-sized mining pool with operational centers in the US and Germany.
Pros
– User-friendly account management.
– Advanced FPPS and PPS mining revenue models.
Cons
– No live chat support.
#7 Slush Pool
Slushpool is the first Bitcoin mining pool with more than 1.2 million BTC coins mined since 2010. Its block share in the BTC mining amounts to approx. 4.4%.
Pros
– The oldest BTC mining pool.
– Great usability.
Cons
– High fees.
#8 SBI Crypto
SBI Crypto is a Japanese-based pool mining approximately 3% of the blockchain blocks. The BTC mining pool offers 0% FPPS fees for its clients.
Pros
– High mining payouts.
– Simple and easy-to-use.
Cons
– Majorly Asia-oriented.
#9 MARA Pool
MARAPool is a young US-based Bitcoin mining pool launched in 2021. It currently mines about 2% of the blocks.
Pros
– Licensed and regulated by the US authorities.
– Full capacity with 133,120 miners.
Cons
– Aimed for institutional investors.
#10 Bitfury
Bitfury is a private BTC (exclusively) mining pool.
Pros
– One of the pioneers in BTC pool mining.
– Massive BTC mining data centers worldwide.
– Built up its equipment and programming by its own working forces.
Cons
– No option to join the Bitfury mining pool directly.
Conclusion
To summarize, the topic of BTC mining pools is very diverse, interesting and the company rating with regard to blocks share, hashrate capacities is changing all the time. You should make your own analysis and be attentive to the company background, transparency, company size, mining fee and site usability when choosing the BTC mining pool. And remember: if you want to mine BTC safely with 100% uptime guarantee, use our BTC cloud mining services because we offer you the best in class BTC mining hash power produced by the Bitcoin mining giant Bitfury. Pay once for BTC mining, no need to buy, own, exploit expensive BTC ASIC mining rigs and let your investments work for you non-stop.
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