Phantom pools are scaring the day of the dead, and, according to recent data, these pools are currently occupying 12% of all the Bitcoin hashrate, and undermining, in the last four days, more than 40% of all network blocks.
It should be clarified that the definition of strangers or “ghosts” groups together different pools of which it is not possible to find their origin, which it means that it could be one or more pools that fall into this category.
Portals such as BTC.com, in charge of recording the mining statistics of the bitcoin network, they place to phantom pools as third parties with a total of 19.2 EH / s, within the ranking of pools with the highest hashrate or mining power of the network, whose capacity currently amounts to 155.7 EH / s.
Blockchain.com, for its part, records that about 40% of the blocks that have been mined in the last 4 days come from unknown pools.
To verify the origin of the funds, Blockchain.com uses a methodology based on the first transaction of the mined block, known as Coinbase. In it, the mining pool usually records information about itself. The payment address of the block reward is also verified, within a register table of addresses linked to the different pools.
Phantom pools are not considered a threat to Bitcoin at all. A pool of this category only means that it could not be identified, this taking into account that they do not have the obligation to publish information about themselves, beyond your hashrate.
Block 707734 mined by BTC.com as indicated by the Coinbase of the transaction. Source: Mempool.space.
The veto of the miners in China seems to be the great awakening of the ghost pools
At the beginning of May, the news, reported by . at the time, was known that China prohibited “illegal mining” in the province of Inner Mongolia, however, this prohibition was extended throughout the country.
Coinciding with these facts, according to data published by BTC.com, in May the unknown or “ghost” pools were only 1.9%. For the following month, the share of this type of pool was 6%, this while the migration of miners from China across the planet. This growth has seen its highest point throughout October when it reached 12% in the Bitcoin hashrate.
Phantom pools: a symptom of greater decentralization?
Before the veto of the miners in China, the Asian country concentrated more than 70% of the global hashrate. Of course, spread over different mining pools. After the veto, pools like Foundry USA, based in the United States, experienced growth in their share of the bitcoin hashrate, becoming fourth in the pool ranking.
In the case of BTC.com, a pool that migrated from China due to regulations, it went from having a 13% share in hashrate to 8.6%.
This new hashrate defragmentation, pioneered by China, is greatly benefiting the mother cryptocurrency. With a greater number of mining pools, adding the new phantom pools yet to be identified, the network consolidates its decentralization, since no pool will be able to impose its rules within Bitcoin, or apply what would be a 51% attack within the network.
Add Comment