Reimbursing Affected Miners
Bitcoin mining pool OCEAN mentioned it’s going to reimburse miners after a configuration problem precipitated some operators to unknowingly mine on the BIP-110 chain regardless of choosing the non-BIP-110 possibility. The clarification follows a wave of group scrutiny, together with allegations that default pool settings steered unassigned DATUM hashpower towards the stalled minority chain.
OCEAN confirmed that for roughly 18 hours, miners utilizing its Stratum templates who believed their hashrate was directed to the non-BIP-110 chain have been truly contributing to the BIP-110 facet of the break up.
To make sure no miner is deprived, OCEAN mentioned it’s going to problem direct bitcoin rebate funds primarily based on rewards miners would have earned on the non-BIP-110 chain throughout that interval.
“Roughly 0.3 BTC will probably be distributed, with funds accomplished inside the subsequent 72 hours. We’ll publish the transaction particulars as soon as the funds are despatched,” OCEAN mentioned in an replace.
The pool added that its default endpoint has been restored to the non-BIP-110 chain, although each mining choices stay out there, permitting operators to explicitly select the place to direct their hashpower.
The incident comes amid broader debate over how mining swimming pools deal with default configurations throughout contentious community splits. As reported by Bitcoin.com Information, the Bitcoin blockchain fractured into two chains on Aug. 8: one implementing the BIP-110 proposal and the unique mainnet. The break up capped weeks of heated debate between BIP-110 proponents, together with Bitcoin developer Luke Dashjr, and critics equivalent to Technique Government Chairman Michael Saylor.
Whereas many swimming pools adopted a wait-and-see method, OCEAN took a daring step by including two new Stratum endpoints bip110.mine.ocean.xyz port 3110 and http://no-signal.mine.ocean.xyz port 3000 on July 8. On the time, OCEAN framed additions as an choice to sign for miners who’re unable to make use of DATUM or who want a failover.
Following the break up, critics like Bitcoin developer Peter Todd alleged that OCEAN’s default DATUM settings mechanically routed unassigned hashpower towards the BIP-110 minority chain. Critics argued that this conduct had unintentionally amplified minority-chain exercise, particularly when miners relied on default templates somewhat than explicitly choosing a series.
Nevertheless, the pool appeared to answer the criticism when it introduced that the default OCEAN stratum endpoint would return to the non-BIP110 chain and that miners on the default endpoint didn’t have to take any motion. On the time, OCEAN added that each web sites would stay dwell to permit purchasers to decide on the place their hashrate goes.
