As I understand it,when mining BTC, and calculating a block, the goal is to find a SHA-256 hash below a certain value (with the previous block, a nonce, and other things as the input). Are pool miners all performing that calculation directly (just with different nonces?)
If so, what prevents the miner who "finds" the block from keeping it, and not reporting it back to the pool? I'm assuming there's some safeguard here, and the miners aren't actually going to find the full solution.
When you are running a miner in a pool, you communicate through getwork protocol. It basically boils down to requesting work and sending back shares (and in rare cases, solutions to blocks). Work in getwork is a Block Header, not an entire Block. The coinbase transaction is encoded in the merkle root, but is not known to the miner. The block hash that creates a share or a block solution is ONLY valid for a given merkle root. If you change the coinbase, giving yourself all the money, you invalidate your solution and have to start over. If you are mining your own blocks, no pool should accept your shares (unless it is dumb).
On the other hand, a miner can withhold a block solution while still submitting other shares. This will make the pool get less money while still having to potentially pay for those shares. This exploit can be detected by statistics though, so over a long period of time such a malicious miner can be found out.
The blocks you mine contain a coinbase transaction, which pays the block reward to an address of your choice. When mining in a pool, you set the payment address to the pool's address. If you were to mine a block and try to change the payment address to your own address, this would change block hash and invalidate the block. You can't cheat a pool by mining with your own payment address because they will check that. Pools get a regular proof of work from their miners by giving them an easier difficulty target, so that the miner regularly passes mined blocks back to the pool which get checked.
It depends on how much you've paid for equipment, the pool you join, its payout method, and your work contribution. In general, the more work you do when the pool earns cryptocurrency, the more you receive."}},"@type": "Question","name": "Is It Worth Joining a Crypto Mining Pool?","acceptedAnswer": "@type": "Answer","text": "If you want to mine cryptocurrency for the chance to earn rewards, it's best to join a pool. This is due to the competitive nature of mining, so the more hashing power you're part of, the more chance you have. On your own, it's doubtful you'll hash fast enough to keep up with the rest of the network.","@type": "Question","name": "How Long Does It Take to Mine 1 BTC?","acceptedAnswer": "@type": "Answer","text": "It takes about 10 minutes for the solution for one block to be found. The reward in 2023 is 6.25 BTC per block, so 6.25 BTC is awarded about every 10 minutes. This is an average of about 1.6 minutes per 1 BTC. Sometime in mid-2024, the reward will halve to 3.125 BTC per block and average about 3.2 minutes per 1 BTC."]} ] }] Investing Stocks Cryptocurrency Bonds ETFs Options and Derivatives Commodities Trading Automated Investing Brokers Fundamental Analysis Markets View All Simulator Login / Portfolio Trade Research My Games Leaderboard Banking Savings Accounts Certificates of Deposit (CDs) Money Market Accounts Checking Accounts View All Personal Finance Budgeting and Saving Personal Loans Insurance Mortgages Credit and Debt Student Loans Taxes Credit Cards Financial Literacy Retirement View All News Markets Companies Earnings CD Rates Mortgage Rates Economy Government Crypto ETFs Personal Finance View All Reviews Best Online Brokers Best Savings Rates Best CD Rates Best Life Insurance Best Personal Loans Best Mortgage Rates Best Money Market Accounts Best Auto Loan Rates Best Credit Repair Companies Best Credit Cards View All Academy Investing for Beginners Trading for Beginners Become a Day Trader Technical Analysis All Investing Courses All Trading Courses View All Trade SearchSearch Please fill out this field. SearchSearch Please fill out this field.InvestingInvesting Stocks Cryptocurrency Bonds ETFs Options and Derivatives Commodities Trading Automated Investing Brokers Fundamental Analysis Markets View All SimulatorSimulator Login / Portfolio Trade Research My Games Leaderboard BankingBanking Savings Accounts Certificates of Deposit (CDs) Money Market Accounts Checking Accounts View All Personal FinancePersonal Finance Budgeting and Saving Personal Loans Insurance Mortgages Credit and Debt Student Loans Taxes Credit Cards Financial Literacy Retirement View All NewsNews Markets Companies Earnings CD Rates Mortgage Rates Economy Government Crypto ETFs Personal Finance View All ReviewsReviews Best Online Brokers Best Savings Rates Best CD Rates Best Life Insurance Best Personal Loans Best Mortgage Rates Best Money Market Accounts Best Auto Loan Rates Best Credit Repair Companies Best Credit Cards View All AcademyAcademy Investing for Beginners Trading for Beginners Become a Day Trader Technical Analysis All Investing Courses All Trading Courses View All EconomyEconomy Government and Policy Monetary Policy Fiscal Policy Economics View All Financial Terms Newsletter About Us Follow Us Table of ContentsExpandTable of ContentsWhat Is a Mining Pool?How It WorksMethodsBenefitsDisadvantagesFAQsThe Bottom LineCryptocurrencyMining Pool: Definition, How It Works, Methods, and Benefits
Rewards are usually split among the miners based on the pool's payout scheme. Some schemes are pay per share (PPS), pay per last N shares (PPLNS), and pay per share plus (PPS+). Each pays based on the share of work contributed, with different payout calculations for each type.
It depends on how much you've paid for equipment, the pool you join, its payout method, and your work contribution. In general, the more work you do when the pool earns cryptocurrency, the more you receive.
If you want to mine cryptocurrency for the chance to earn rewards, it's best to join a pool. This is due to the competitive nature of mining, so the more hashing power you're part of, the more chance you have. On your own, it's doubtful you'll hash fast enough to keep up with the rest of the network.
Due to the recent development in local regulation, we will no longer be able to provide you with mining pool services. Your pending payout will be safe, and the final payout will be sent automatically as usual. If you have not filled in the payout address, please do so before 2021-12-30. We plan to shut down our services in mainland China, excluding Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan, by 2021-12-31 16:00 UTC. Please contact us with supporting documents if our system incorrectly identifies your country of origin.
I have tried to do some research on my own, and think I have a basic understanding of some things, but I have questions.
My current belief is that with the standard official Wallet, I could solo mine, but not join a pool.
Pool mining can be profitable, especially for those with limited capital, hardware, and energy resources. However, profitability depends on factors such as the chosen pool, mining difficulty, cryptocurrency, hardware, and electricity costs. Research and choose a mining pool carefully to enhance your profits.
Yes, you can create your own crypto mining pool, but it requires both technical expertise and substantial energy resources. Open-source pool software options are available for those interested in setting up their own pool. However, if you have limited investment capital, it may be more advantageous to join an established mining pool.
Mining pool fees are charges deducted from miners' earnings to cover the pool's operational costs. For instance, BTC.com, a prominent mining pool with a hash rate exceeding 10 EH/s, levies a 1.5% fee from miners who opt to use their pool.
When a miner contributes their computational power to BTC.com and successfully mines a Bitcoin block, they will receive 98.5% of the block reward. BTC.com, in turn, retains 1.5% as a fee for providing the mining pool.
Be aware that fee structures will vary from one mining pool to another, and pools offer different payout methods, such as Pay-Per-Share (PPS), Pay-Per-Last-N-Shares (PPLNS), and more. Mining fees vary between pool and payout method, and can either be a percentage of your mining earnings or a fixed amount.
Can someone please explain exactly what a share is in the context of pool mining? I have a superficial understanding of testing random nonces to find a hash under the current difficulty. I also understand that mining pools set a custom easier difficulty to target a relatively easy to attain share difficulty (10 minutes).
What I don't understand is how those shares translate to finding real blocks. Say one out of a thousand shares is a valid real new block. Why wouldn't miners just submit that hash themselves, and send the rest of the easier shares to the pool?
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