[2016-09-13] One of Bitcoin's Biggest Miners is Launching a Second Pool

[a7mos]

As if running the third-largest bitcoin mining pool wasn't enough, China-based Bitmain announced the launch of its second mining pool yesterday.

Unlike the other large mining pools, though, the new offering (launched through its subsidiary BTC.com) will be open sourced to its community of users. According to Bitmain, the pool is not meant as a replacement for its popular Antpool platform (which has roughly 13% of the network's market share) but rather to enhance the stability of the bitcoin network.

In interview, Nisthant Sharma, international marketing manager at Bitmain, explained that the goal is to use this software to "promote decentralization of the bitcoin mining network".

the article link 

[Coin-Keeper]

If you are a citizen of China please don't be offended by this post.  I just wish that more OTHER countries would be getting involved in large mining pools.  In my small mind decentralization seems a little fuzzy when one country has so much mining pool "power".  On the other hand, hats off to you guys for working the mining pool system so efficiently.

[yayayo]

That's quite interesting. I don't see why making the software open-source is aiding decentralization in any way. Such a pool can only be operated by a party that has the resources to run the servers and will only be successful if it achieves significant hashing power. By launching a new technologically advanced pool first, BTC.com has a first-mover advantage that wont evaporate anytime soon. In fact, it looks a lot like BTC.com wants to expand its dominant position by launching several brands that give miners the false impression of decentralized hash power.

The competition among miners and pool operators is getting more fierce. The new venture of McAfee is expanding their mining operation as well. It will be interesting to watch the development of the networks hash rate in the coming months.

ya.ya.yo!