Poolin Is Bankrupt, but Bitcoin Didn't Notice

[Exitoral]

Poolin, among the biggest Bitcoin mining services, just filed for bankruptcy. This goes to show why miners shouldn't trust mining pools with custody of their coins. People still view them as banks when their main business model is to coordinate miners and share rewards. There's also news that it suspended withdrawals as far back as 2022. Still, that didn't serve as a warning to them. The main lesson here to other mining pools and miners is to never leave your Bitcoin with them longer than necessary. Withdraw into a wallet where you know you control the private keys.

At the end of the day, self-custody matters. I learnt that on this forum, and it's nice that I am catching up at a good pace. Another thing we should do is separate mining from custody. A mining pool is just a business that offers services, never a bank. This further tells you that just because they are big doesn't mean they are immune to failure. Poolin was no doubt one of the biggest mining pools in the world, and they still failed. Watch out for others like it. If you are a miner here, it's best to diversify your risk. Depending on one pool provider has proven to be dangerous in the long run.

Poolin came as a shock to many. Poolin's failure might not be as a result of its mining operations, but an underlying factor of expanding without a proper plan. Maybe they did have a proper plan, but they didn't exercise the fundamental risk involved in such expansion. As the saying goes on this platform, always practise self-custody. Never leave your Bitcoin on centralised platforms for long. Mining providers are not banks to store your Bitcoin. A company like Poolin has proven that you can't trust intermediaries with your funds. More importantly, Bitcoin continues to produce blocks regardless of which company has failed or is failing. But customers who fail to listen will bite their fingers in regret.

https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/07/24/poolin-was-bitcoin-s-biggest-mining-pool-and-now-it-s-filing-for-bankruptcy

[tbct_mt2]

Poolin, among the biggest Bitcoin mining services, just filed for bankruptcy. This goes to show why miners shouldn't trust mining pools with custody of their coins.

I used to mining so as far as I know, miners only configure their rigs to a mining pool, then if the pool found a block, reward will be shared to miners in that pool, and payment will be made immediately. Honestly, I don't know mining pools that hold your coins.

There are cloud mining scams.
Cloudmining 101 (ponzi risk assessment).

At the end of the day, self-custody matters.

It's always true, and it's vital thing to do.
Reminder: do not keep your money in online accounts.

BitMEX closed, now Poolin bankrupted, is the market bottom already around here?

[_act_]

Poolin, among the biggest Bitcoin mining services, just filed for bankruptcy.

According to the news I read about it yesterday, Poolin only contribute to 2% of the bitcoin hash rate, so the mining pool is not one of the biggest mining pools.

Poolin has the highest hash rate in 2019, but it is no more like that. It was only contributing 2% before the bankruptcy.

[ABCbits]

Honestly, I don't know mining pools that hold your coins.

I believe it's common these days, because your share of a mined block may fee too low. Here's an example from Antpool (currently second biggest Bitcoin mining pool).

--snip--
The default minimum payout value for Bitcoin is 0.005 BTC. You can modify the value under “Settings” according to your needs.
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ANTPOOL will process all accounts at 9 o'clock every day. If your balance has reached the minimum payment after today’s settlement (after 9 o’clock), payment will be processed next day.

But since some mining pool use this approach, you need to pay attention whether the mining pool is totally KYC free or not.

Poolin, among the biggest Bitcoin mining services, just filed for bankruptcy.

According to the news I read about it yesterday, Poolin only contribute to 2% of the bitcoin hash rate, so the mining pool is not one of the biggest mining pools.

Poolin has the highest hash rate in 2019, but it is no more like that. It was only contributing 2% before the bankruptcy.

That news probably share wrong percentage. News i saw claim Poolin had about 1/7 (14.3%) hashrate back in 2019. Website such as https://web.archive.org/web/20190331034619/https://coin.dance/blocks/thisweek shows total blocks mined by Poolin was about 10% back then.