Jack Dorsey, Bitcoin advocate and co-founder of Twitter (now X) supports Ocean, a new Bitcoin mining pool that will assist miners in regaining control over transaction fees and block rewards by leading a $6.2 million funding round.
An announcement on November 29 stated that Dorsey led a $6.2 million seed round for Mummolin, the parent company of the new decentralized Bitcoin mining pool Ocean.
The pilot funding will support Ocean’s inception, an application that aims to decentralize and reconfigure the Bitcoin mining process. The primary objective of the mining pool is to increase the level of transparency in the mining process and facilitate miners in receiving block rewards directly from Bitcoin mining pools, as opposed to BTC mining pools.
Luke Dashjr, longtime Bitcoin Core developer and co-founder of Mummolin, believes that for Bitcoin to be a genuinely decentralized currency, the function of mining pools must change.
Mark Artymko, co-founder and president of Mummolin, emphasized that conventional Bitcoin mining pools retain exclusive custody of transaction fees and block rewards before their distribution to miners. “This affords them the authority to deduct payment from specific miners, whether voluntarily or in compliance with legal obligations,” Artymko further stated.
“OCEAN’s non-custodial payouts directly to miners from the block reward remove this risk and the pool’s undue influence over miners.”
Dorsey, a devoted Ocean supporter, is certain that the platform will resolve the potential Bitcoin-afflicting issue of increased centralization of mining pools and pools. He observed:
“When I see a project that is good for Bitcoin broadly, and that’s also good for me and my companies personally, it becomes a simple decision for me and I’m happy to be a part of it.”
At the Future of Bitcoin Mining Conference, Ocean’s inauguration was announced in the shadows of Barefoot Mining‘s 150-year-old hydroelectric dam in rural South Carolina. As Ocean’s initial client, Barefoot Mining has completely repurposed the dam by converting surplus energy into large-scale Bitcoin mining.
The introduction of Ocean occurred 139 days before the anticipated fourth halving of Bitcoin on April 17, 2024. The current mining reward per block of 6.25 BTC will decrease to 3.125 BTC following the halving, substantially diminishing the incentives for Bitcoin miners.
