Note (September 2026): Earlier versions of this article said pool rewards are shared equally and implied an ordinary computer can mine Bitcoin through a pool. Rewards are actually split in proportion to the work each miner contributes, and Bitcoin mining today relies on specialized ASIC hardware.
A mining pool is a group of cryptocurrency miners who combine their computing power (hashrate) to find blocks more often and split the rewards in proportion to the work each member contributes. On a proof-of-work network such as Bitcoin, pooling turns rare, unpredictable solo wins into small, steady payouts, minus a pool fee.
Key Takeaways
- A mining pool combines many miners’ hashrate; the pool finds blocks and pays members according to the shares of work they submit.
- Pooling reduces the variance of mining income; it does not make unprofitable hardware profitable.
- Common payout methods are PPS, FPPS, PPLNS, proportional and score-based systems, which split risk differently between miner and operator.
- In the three months to 27 September 2026, Foundry USA (about 25%) and AntPool (about 19%) mined the most Bitcoin blocks, according to mempool.space.
- Bitcoin mining now relies on specialized ASIC machines; Ethereum stopped using mining altogether in September 2022.
We know about PoW and its underpinning for digital coins, including BTC. In proof-of-work (PoW) blockchains such as Bitcoin, miners are responsible for validating transactions and bundling them into new blocks. In any PoW based digital currency systems, each confirmed transaction is then recorded permanently on the blockchain, a public ledger that every node can check.
Mining can in principle be done on many kinds of computers, but for Bitcoin the equipment has become highly specialized: according to Wikipedia’s overview of the Bitcoin protocol, Bitcoin-specific ASIC machines are now the primary way bitcoin is mined and have surpassed graphics-card speed by as much as 300-fold. Most retail investors do not own this kind of equipment, and even those who do compete against a network whose total hashrate mempool.space estimated at roughly 958 exahashes per second (EH/s) on 27 September 2026.
Whoever finds a valid PoW block earns the block reward, which on Bitcoin has been 3.125 BTC of newly created coins plus transaction fees since the halving at block 840,000 on 20 April 2024. For a small miner, however, the odds of finding any block alone are extremely low. Mining pools were created to solve that problem by letting many miners combine their computing power and share the rewards.
This guide explains what a mining pool is, how it works, how pools pay miners, which pools are largest, and the pros and cons of joining one. If you are interested in bitcoin trading check the crypto engine trading bot.
Understanding a Mining Pool
A mining pool is a group of cryptocurrency miners who combine their computing power (hashrate) over a network and split the rewards according to how much work each one contributed. Few individual miners have enough hashrate to find Bitcoin blocks regularly on their own, so they join a pool whose operator coordinates the work. Pooling is mainly about making income steadier: according to Wikipedia’s overview of the Bitcoin protocol, computing power is pooled to reduce variance in miner income.
All the pool miners collaborate to earn the rewards together. The rewards are divided in proportion to each contributor’s share of the work, not equally, after the pool deducts its fee. In simple language, a mining pool works like a syndicate for block rewards. Instead of clubbing their funds, members club their computing power, and each is paid according to the hashrate they supply.
Mining pools are the standard route for small miners who want a regular income from their hardware. PoW systems reward computing power, which naturally favors large professional operations with the most hashrate. A pool gives smaller miners a way to earn a steady share of rewards instead of waiting, possibly for decades, for a solo block.
Many more online calculators can show how long an individual miner would wait, on average, to find a block without joining a pool. For a single machine on today’s Bitcoin network, that expected wait runs to decades, as the worked example below shows. Pools are also popular with miners who lack deep pockets or specialist knowledge of technology.
The working of Mining Pools
A mining pool turns a miner’s hashrate into a steady stream of payouts. These are some of the key steps involved in being part of the mining pools.
- A miner creates an account with a pool and points their mining hardware (for Bitcoin, an ASIC machine) at the pool’s server address; some pools also offer their own firmware or software.
- The hardware then connects to the pool’s server over a mining protocol such as Stratum and receives work to do. Each machine, called a worker, effectively acts as an extension of the pool.
- The worker keeps hashing and submits shares, easier-to-find solutions that prove how much work it is doing; occasionally one of those shares is also a valid block for the whole network.
- Block subsidies and transaction fees are earned through Bitcoin mining. The pool collects that reward and pays members according to the shares each submitted, not in equal amounts.
- Rewards are normally paid in the coin being mined. Payout options vary by pool; Braiins Pool, for example, pays in bitcoin either on-chain or over the Lightning Network.
- The pool distributes rewards among the miners using its chosen payout method, minus a pool fee.
Different mining pools use different payout methods to distribute rewards among miners. The most common systems are listed below.
- Pay Per Share (PPS) and Full Pay Per Share (FPPS).
- Proportional
- Pay Per Last N Shares (PPLNS).
- Score-based systems, which give recent shares more weight than older ones.
Each method splits risk differently between the miner and the pool operator, as the comparison table below shows. A mining pool offers smaller miners steadier income, but it does not make unprofitable hardware profitable. That, in short, is how pool mining works. Before joining one, compare fees, payout methods and your own electricity costs.
Why Is Solo Mining So Hard on Bitcoin?
Solo mining on Bitcoin is hard because a single machine holds a tiny fraction of the network’s hashrate. Bitcoin targets one block about every 10 minutes, or roughly 144 blocks a day, and the protocol adjusts mining difficulty about every two weeks so that pace holds as hashrate changes.
A worked example using mempool.space’s estimate of about 958 EH/s (958,000,000 TH/s) on 27 September 2026 shows the problem. A hypothetical machine producing 200 TH/s would hold about 0.00002% of the network’s hashrate. On average it would find one block every 33,000 days or so, roughly 91 years.
Inside a pool, the same 200 TH/s would earn a steady share instead: about 0.000094 BTC a day, or around 0.0028 BTC a month, from the 3.125 BTC block subsidy alone, before transaction fees are added and the pool fee is deducted. These figures move as network hashrate, difficulty and fees change, and they say nothing about electricity costs, which decide whether mining is profitable at all.
For the basics of the process itself, see this beginner’s guide to the Bitcoin mining process.
How Do Mining Pools Pay Miners?
Mining pools pay miners by counting the shares each one submits and converting them into a payout under the pool’s reward method. The methods differ mainly in who carries the variance risk, the risk of the pool going through an unlucky stretch without finding blocks.
| Method | How the miner is paid | Who bears variance risk |
|---|---|---|
| PPS (Pay Per Share) | A fixed amount for every valid share, whether or not the pool finds a block | Pool operator (fees are usually highest) |
| FPPS (Full Pay Per Share) | Like PPS, but also pays a share of transaction fees, not just the block subsidy | Pool operator |
| PPLNS (Pay Per Last N Shares) | When a block is found, the reward is split over the last N shares, regardless of round boundaries | Miner |
| Proportional (PROP) | When a block is found, the reward is split in proportion to the shares each worker found in that round | Miner |
| Score-based | Proportional, but later shares are worth more than earlier ones, which discourages pool-hopping | Miner |
| SMPPS (Shared Maximum PPS) | Like PPS, but never pays out more than the pool actually earns | Shared, with the operator’s risk capped |
Definitions follow the Bitcoin Wiki’s comparison of mining pools. Pools often use modified versions of these methods, so check the exact terms on a pool’s own help pages.
Which Are the Largest Bitcoin Mining Pools?
Foundry USA and AntPool were the largest Bitcoin mining pools by blocks found in the three months to 27 September 2026, according to mempool.space. Together they mined about 44% of the 13,187 blocks in that period.
| Pool | Share of blocks (about 3 months to 27 Sep 2026) |
|---|---|
| Foundry USA | 25.4% |
| AntPool | 18.9% |
| F2Pool | 15.5% |
| SpiderPool | 8.8% |
| ViaBTC | 8.6% |
| MARA Pool | 4.9% |
Rankings shift from month to month; over the shorter one-month window to the same date, ViaBTC (8.6%) edged ahead of SpiderPool (8.3%). Block counts attributed to each pool are an estimate based on how pools tag the blocks they mine.
Pool concentration is a long-running concern. Wikipedia notes that GHash.io once reached about 51% of Bitcoin’s mining power before voluntarily capping itself at 39.99%, and that Deepbit held more than half of the network’s hashrate in the 2011-2013 era. Individual miners in a pool can switch to another pool if an operator misbehaves, which limits, but does not remove, that risk.
A Short History of Mining Pools
- November 2010: the first mining pool, Slush’s pool, launched, according to Wikipedia.
- 2011-2013: Deepbit dominated, at times controlling more than 50% of network hashrate.
- May 2013: F2Pool launched; it later became the largest pool for several years.
- 2016-2018: Bitmain’s AntPool rose to prominence.
- 2021: Foundry USA Pool became one of the largest pools.
- 2022: Slush Pool was renamed Braiins Pool; Braiins describes it as the oldest active Bitcoin mining pool, having mined its first block in 2010.
- 15 September 2022: Ethereum switched from proof of work to proof of stake in The Merge, ending Ethereum mining and the Ethereum mining pools that went with it.
What Do Mining Pools Charge?
Mining pools charge a fee, usually a percentage of the miner’s rewards, and set a minimum balance before paying out. Fees and thresholds vary by pool and by payout method, so compare them before connecting hardware.
As one example, as of September 2026 Braiins Pool’s help pages list a 2.5% fee for its FPPS rewards and a minimum on-chain payout of 0.0002 BTC, with Lightning payouts available from 1 satoshi; Braiins also advertises 0% pool fees for miners running its own Braiins OS firmware. Until a payout is sent, the balance sits with the pool, so the pool’s reliability matters as much as its fee.
Payouts go to a wallet address you control; this overview of the different types of Bitcoin wallets explains the options.
Pros and Cons of Joining a Mining Pool
Advantages
- Steadier, more predictable income than solo mining.
- Lower technical overhead: the pool builds block templates and handles payouts.
- Dashboards to monitor each worker’s hashrate and earnings.
- Flexible payouts, such as daily on-chain or Lightning payments at some pools.
Disadvantages
- Pool fees reduce total earnings.
- Rewards are held by the pool until they reach the payout threshold.
- Large pools concentrate influence over which transactions go into blocks.
- Pooling does not fix unprofitable hardware or high electricity prices.
How to Join a Mining Pool: Step by Step
- Check the economics first. Compare your hardware’s hashrate and power draw with your electricity price using a mining calculator.
- Choose a pool. Compare fee, payout method (FPPS, PPLNS and so on), minimum payout, server locations and track record.
- Create an account and set a payout address in a wallet you control.
- Configure your miner with the pool’s server address and your worker name, as listed in the pool’s setup guide.
- Monitor the dashboard to confirm that shares are accepted and that the reported hashrate matches your hardware.
- Keep records of payouts, since mining income can be taxable; see this guide to Bitcoin taxation.
Mining Pool vs Solo Mining vs Cloud Mining
| Option | Who owns the hardware | Income pattern | Main risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solo mining | You | Rare, large block rewards | Very long, unpredictable gaps between wins |
| Pool mining | You | Small, regular payouts | Pool fees and trusting the operator with pending balances |
| Cloud mining | A provider (you rent hashrate) | Depends on the contract | You rely entirely on the provider being genuine and solvent |
If you are weighing rented hashrate, read this overview of cloud mining websites carefully and verify any provider independently. For the wider picture, see Bitcoin mining explained, including whether you can do it at home, and how the halving schedule shapes Bitcoin’s supply over time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is joining a mining pool worth it?
Joining a mining pool is worth it for most small miners because it turns rare solo wins into steady payouts. It only makes sense, however, if your hardware earns more than it costs in electricity and fees.
Can I join a Bitcoin mining pool with a laptop or graphics card?
A laptop or graphics card can technically connect to a pool, but it would earn almost nothing on Bitcoin. According to Wikipedia, Bitcoin-specific ASICs are now the primary method of mining and have surpassed GPU speed by as much as 300-fold.
What is the largest Bitcoin mining pool?
Foundry USA was the largest Bitcoin mining pool by blocks found in the three months to 27 September 2026, with about 25.4% of blocks, followed by AntPool at about 18.9%, according to mempool.space.
What is the difference between PPS and PPLNS?
PPS pays a fixed amount for every valid share, so the pool operator absorbs bad luck. PPLNS pays only when the pool finds a block, splitting it across the last N shares, so the miner carries the variance.
Can you still mine Ethereum in a pool?
No. Ethereum moved from proof of work to proof of stake on 15 September 2022 in The Merge, so ether is no longer mined; validators who stake ETH now produce blocks.
How much is the Bitcoin block reward now?
The Bitcoin block subsidy is 3.125 BTC plus transaction fees, following the halving at block 840,000 on 20 April 2024. The subsidy halves every 210,000 blocks, so the next halving is due at block 1,050,000.
