10 Best Mining Pools in 2023
The difficulty of mining Bitcoin is rising and a lot of miners deciding to join mining pools. This increases the chances of pool members to find a new block before others and receive a part of the reward. There is also no need to spend money on additional power to mine profitably. More than this mining pools help to reduce competition between miners and increase the chances of getting profit per block.
Tgdratings.com experts have presented the ranking of the best mining pools in 2023 year.
TOP 10 mining pools
The pools listed below give out high hashrate and have good reputation among users.
1. Binance Pool
Address: https://pool.binance.com/
Binance Pool is a fast-growing pool owned by Binance – the largest crypto exchange in terms of trading volume. This is a high-tech and secure platform that is actively expanding its presence in the field of mining.
The pool has 700+ thousand active miners. The coins available for mining are: Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, Zcash and others.
The main supported algorithm for mining BTC and BCH is SHA256. To work with the pool identity verification is required. Rewards are distributed every 24 hours. High hashrate users can apply for VIP status to enjoy special privileges.
Key Features
Basic information about the BTC pool:
- Hashrate: 51.55 Eh/s;
- Payout threshold: none;
- Remuneration distribution method: FPPS;
- Commissions: 2.5%.
Advantages and disadvantages
2. OKX Pool
Address: https://www.okx.com/pool
OKX Pool is the mining pool of the OKX exchange. The pool can mine Bitcoin, Ethereum Classic, Litecoin and others. SHA256 algorithm is supported for BTC mining.
To join the mining pool, in addition to registration on the exchange, you need to pass photo verification. With unique architecture and advanced technology, OKX mining pool effectively prevents various attacks and maintains stable operation. OKX guarantees a reliable 24/7 mining service thanks to the deployment of multiple nodes around the world and a professional technical team. After the block is confirmed, the reward is distributed among the pool participants in accordance with their share of the contributed power. Payments are made daily.
Key Features
Basic information about the BTC pool:
- Hashrate: 156.68 TH/s;
- Payout threshold: none;
- >Remuneration distribution method: PPLNS;
- Commissions: 4%.
Advantages and disadvantages
3. Kucoin Pool
Address: https://www.kucoin.com/mining-pool
KuCoin Pool is a high-performance mining pool of the KuCoin crypto exchange. KuCoin officially launched its mining platform on August 25, 2021. The pool supports Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) mining. KuCoin Pool provides users with optimized algorithms to improve mining efficiency. Mining profits are credited the next day to the main KuCoin account.
Key Features
Basic information about the BTC/BCH pool:
- Hashrate: 2.96 EH/s;
- Payout threshold: no data;
- Remuneration distribution method: FPPS;
- Commissions: 2%.
Advantages and disadvantages
4. F2Pool
Address: https://www.f2pool.com/
F2Pool is one of the best bitcoin mining pools. F2Pool was launched in China in 2013 and was known as Discus Fish. Today, the service operates in 100+ countries. The platform is available in English, Spanish, Chinese and Ukrainian.
The pool has 2+ million miners worldwide. BTC mining uses the SHA256d algorithm. You can also mine ETH, LTC, ETC, BCH, CKB, RVN, ZEC, ZEN, KDA, DCR, DASH and more. Some of the coins can be mined through merged mining. This mining method allows you to apply previously done calculating work to other blocks. This means that users can earn extra coins without increasing the hashrate.
Key Features
Basic information about the BTC pool:
- Hashrate: 42.62 EH/s;
- Payout threshold: 0.005/0.01/0.05/1/5 BTC;
- Remuneration distribution method: PPS+;
- Commissions: 2.5%.
Advantages and disadvantages
5. AntPool
Address: https://v3.antpool.com/home
The AntPool mining pool was launched in 2014 with the aim to become one of the best mining pools on the market. In the past, the pool has successfully held the first place in bitcoin hash rate and today remains one of the leaders in block mining. AntPool is operated by Bitmain Technology, which also produces the famous Antminer ASICs.
The company hosts bitcoin mining servers around the world, and miners can connect to the nearest server. AntPool offers three types of mining: Stratum (used for traditional pool mining), P2Pool (to create a single group of miners), Solo (for mining farms and individuals capable of generate high hashrates).
Bitcoin is mined using the SHA-256 cryptographic algorithm. The pool provides daily payouts. As soon as earnings reach the minimum amount, payments will be sent to the wallet automatically.
Key Features
Basic information about the BTC pool:
- Hashrate: 64.9 EH/s;
- Payout threshold: 0.005 BTC;
- Remuneration distribution method: PPLNS, FPPS;
- Commissions: PPLNS -0%, FPPS – 4%.
Advantages and disadvantages
6. ViaBTC
Address: https://www.viabtc.com/
ViaBTC is a mining pool that was launched in China in 2016. It serves 600+ thousand miners located in 130+ countries. Has a good reputation among users. Supports mining BTC, BCH, BSV, FCH, ETH, ETC and more.
The platform offers a mining pool, a ViaBTC wallet, access to the CoinEx and Smart Chain exchanges, as well as access to the OneSwap decentralized exchange. In addition to a vast ecosystem, unique features are available to increase mining efficiency. These include smart mining and one click switch. The bitcoin mining algorithm is SHA256d.
Key Features
Basic information about the BTC pool:
- Hashrate: 25.10 EH/s;
- Payout threshold: 0.001 BTC;
- Remuneration distribution method: PPLNS, PPS+, Solo;
- Commissions: 4% for PPS+, 2% for PPLNS, 1% for Solo.
Advantages and disadvantages
7. Poolin
Address: https://www.poolin.com/
Poolin is one of the youngest mining pools. The platform was launched in 2018 and quickly became one of the top hashrate leaders. The number of active miners is 56+ thousand. Payouts calculate daily.
Similar to F2Pool, Poolin offers a merged mining feature that allows users to mine multiple cryptocurrencies using the same computing power. Poolin also offers an auto-switch feature that switches the hashrate between BTC and BCH depending on which coin can provide the most mining profitability at the moment.
Key Features
Basic information about the BTC pool:
- Hashrate: 5.07 EH/s;
- Payout threshold: 0.005 BTC;
- Remuneration distribution method: FPPS;
- Commissions: 2.5%.
Advantages and disadvantages
8. BTC.com
Address: https://pool.btc.com/
The BTC.com team has focused on providing users with an easy-to-manage multi-currency mining platform. In addition to BTC, users can mine BCH, LTC, ETH, DCR, CKR. The company was established in 2015 as a blockchain explorer and launched a bitcoin mining pool a year later. Like AntPool, BTC.com is run by Bitmain Technologies.
The pool is available in 10+ languages, including Spanish, Russian, French, Japanese and more. The platform has open source code.
Key Features
Basic information about the BTC pool:
- Hashrate: 9.358 EH/s;
- Payout threshold: 0.005 BTC;
- Remuneration distribution method: FPPS;
- Commissions: 4%.
Advantages and disadvantages
9. Braiins Pool (Slush Pool)
Address: https://slushpool.com/home/
Braiins Pool is the first bitcoin mining pool. Launched in 2010 under the name Slush Pool. The pool was originally run by members of Satoshi Labs (creators of the Trezor wallet), and is now run by Braiins. The number of active miners is 95+ thousand.
The platform publishes mining data through statistical evidence, which is why Braiins Pool is known for its stability and accuracy. It is often considered one of the most transparent mining platforms. The user interface is friendly for beginner miners. The service has a demo access to platform for new users. The pool supports multiple languages, including English, Russian, Spanish, Persian, and Chinese. Has its own mobile application.
Key Features
Basic information about the BTC pool:
- Hashrate: 6.99 EH/S;
- Payout threshold: 0.001 BTC;
- Reward allocation method: Score;
- Commissions: 2%.
Advantages and disadvantages
10. 2miners
Address: https://2miners.com/
2Miners is an easy to use multi-currency mining pool with servers in Europe, USA and Asia. 2Miners allows users to mine 20+ cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, Bitcoin Gold, Zcash and more.
The pool supports 18 languages (Spanish, Polish, Russian, etc.), two mining modes, payouts within 24 hours. The number of active miners is 48+ thousand.
You can receive notifications about new blocks via telegram bot and e-mail. The pool fees are: 1% for PPLNS and 1.5% for SOLO.
Key Features
Basic information about the ETH Classic pool:
- Pool hashrate: 12.28 TH/s;
- Payout threshold: 0.1 ETC;
- Remuneration Distribution Method: PPLNS, SOLO;
- Commissions: 1%.
Advantages and disadvantages
every 2 hours;
What are the different types of mining pools?
According to the payout system, there are more than 15 types of mining pools. However, the vast majority of pools are based on PPS, PPLNS, PPS+ and FPPS. Let’s consider them in more detail:
- Per Share (PPS) or pay per share: guarantees the miner a payout regardless of whether the pool finds the next block. The cost of a share is determined by the network complexity, block reward, block time and pool power. This method is rarely used by large pools due to high fees;
- Pay-Per-Last N Share (PPLNS) or Last N Share Fee: distributes profits based on the number of shares contributed by pool members. Miners are rewarded only after a block has been found. Unlike the first payout model, there are significant profit fluctuations here. For example, if a pool mines several blocks per day, its members will receive a significant profit. If a mining pool does not find a single block during the day, its members do not earn anything. Pools that use Pay-Per-Last N Share may or may not include transaction fees in miner payouts. This model is more commonly used by large pools;
- Pay-Per-Share Plus (PPS+) Pay Per Share Plus: combines PPS and PPLNS. Block rewards are in line with the relatively stable PPS payment model, and transaction fees are in line with the PPLNS regime. Mining rewards are constant, but transaction fee calculations vary greatly;
- Full Pay-Per-Share (FPPS): The mining pool pays miners the expected block reward. Members also receive transaction fees. This is an improvement to the Pay-Per-Share system. Payments are calculated using theoretical concepts of rewards and transaction fees. For example, pool operators calculate a standard transaction fee in the short term and distribute it among the miners according to their share.
Less common payment systems:
- Proportional method (PROP) distributes the reward proportionally among all miners, depending on the number of shares that each of them owns;
- The Total Max Pay-Per-Share (SMPPS) method is similar to the Pay-Per-Share (PPS) approach, but has the limitation of not paying more than the mining pool profit.
How to choose the best mining pool?
To select a mining pool, examine company reviews and their reputation, pool statistics, commissions, pool size, reward distribution methods, etc.
Reputation
Reputation is one of the important factors when choosing a pool. Unfortunately, not all mining pools work honestly. Some overestimate commissions and do not pay rewards properly. Among the obvious signs of fraud lets highlight:
- Profit guaranteed: Profit-guaranteed pools may promise more than they can deliver;
- Company anonymity: Mining pools or services owned and operated by anonymous companies or individuals can sometimes be fraudulent;
- No public audit data: Mining pools or mining services that do not publish data about their operations or do not disclose hash rate statistics can be fraudulent;
- No hash rate proof: Legitimate pools provide hash rate statistics that cannot be faked and can be independently verified by any would-be miner. Fraud companies do not provide such statistics or publish their hash rate figures without any supporting evidence.
To avoid scam pools, you need to chech up the reviews or visit the forums to get a better idea about the service you may want to join to. You can find positive and negative reviews about any company, but too large number of bad review is an alarm sign when choosing a pool.
Commissions
The pools charge miners a commission on each reward, thereby covering the costs of equipment, internet and administration costs. Typically, the pool fee is between 1% and 5%. In order to keep track of your rewards, it is important to know how much commission the pool is charging.
Pool Size
The size of the pool and the market share it holds plays a big role in mining. Large pools include more users: combining their hash power, the speed of mining a new block becomes even faster. This multiplies the chances of one of the participants to find the next block. The reward is shared among all miners. Therefore, it is better to join a large pool in order to receive faster and more stable income.
Pool efficiency
Mining efficiency is the ratio of confirmed and rejected transactions. You can calculate it using the formula accepted/(accepted+rejected). It’s important to aim for 100% efficiency, as any lower number means lower stability and profitability.
Remuneration distribution method
The reward system is one of the main characteristics of a mining pool and can be a key factor in choosing it. Different bitcoin mining pools have their own reward distribution methods. There are more than 15 in total, but PPS, PPLNS, PPS+ and FPPS are the most commonly used.
FPPS is the most risky for the pool operator, so there is usually a higher fee. PPLNS pools has a little or no risk to the pool operator, so they can have very low fees.
Geographic location
If two miners find the correct solution for the current block at the same time, then the one who submits the solution first is more likely to receive the reward. Therefore, it is recommended to choose a pool close to you in order to have the best internet connection quality.
Support
It is important to choose a pool that has 24/7 support. This will allow you to quickly resolve possible problems.
Why are crypto miners important?
Miners do the job of verifying the legitimacy of bitcoin transactions. By verifying transactions, they help prevent the “double spending problem”.
What are pros and cons of mining pools?
FAQ
Unlike pools, cloud mining allows you to mine cryptocurrencies using a remote data center with a shared computing power. In simple it is mining on rented equipment. The user needs to register in the cloud mining service and purchase a mining contract by paying a fee.
Crypto mining from home is still an option for other popular cryptocurrencies such as Dogecoin and Ethereum Classic etc.
Before you start mining, calculate your potential profit with crypto mining profit calculator, which is easy to find on the Internet.
Conclusions
Mining pools are groups of crypto miners that combine computing power to create new blocks and receive rewards. The pools divide the payout among all participants depending on the contribution of each. Miners have to pay a fee to the pool.
Mining pools provide an opportunity for private miners who do not have access to large computing power to receive a stable reward. However, before joining any pool, it is recommended to carefully study security measures, reputation, fees, hashrate and other pool statistics. It is also important to read customer reviews on a particular pool.
