Binance Pool Expands Horizons with Merged Mining
Introduction to Merged Mining
Binance Pool is gearing up to transform the mining landscape with the introduction of merged mining capabilities for Bitcoin (BTC) and Fractal Bitcoin (FB) set to launch on November 18, 2024. This groundbreaking feature allows miners to simultaneously mine BTC while earning rewards in Fractal Bitcoin, a promising layer-2 scaling solution designed for Bitcoin. Binance has made it clear, however, that this new mining capability does not necessarily indicate that Fractal Bitcoin will be listed on the Binance exchange.
Excitement in the Fractal Community
The Fractal community is buzzing with excitement as the news breaks. As shared on social media, Binance Pool’s new merged mining feature enables miners to earn FB while mining BTC. This development represents a significant milestone for the Fractal community, aiming to simplify the process of securing both Bitcoin and Fractal Bitcoin. Welcome messages have flooded in for new miners joining the community, marking a new era of growth and collaboration.
Understanding Fractal Bitcoin Mining on Binance Pool
Fractal Bitcoin is designed as a Bitcoin sidechain that utilizes the Bitcoin core code to enhance scalability without compromising on security or decentralization. This sidechain ensures consistency with Bitcoin’s consensus mechanisms, allowing every Fractal transaction to be directly traced back to the Bitcoin main chain. Additionally, Fractal Bitcoin incorporates the OP_CAT opcode, which enables cutting-edge applications like ZK rollups.
With Binance Pool’s merged mining process, users can take advantage of these innovations through a Pay-Per-Last-N-Shares (PPLNS) payout model. Miners need to set up an external wallet capable of handling transactions with a minimum payout threshold of 0.1 FB. Earnings below this threshold will accumulate in the user’s balance until the requirement is met.
To get started, miners must integrate their FB wallet address into their Binance Pool account and verify their credentials. Binance offers comprehensive guides to facilitate the mining setup, ensuring that users, regardless of their experience level, can engage with the process. Furthermore, users can easily track their hashrates and earnings through Binance Pool’s intuitive interface, promoting transparency and ease of operation.
Enhancing Blockchain Mining Efficiency
This innovative move by Binance Pool not only promotes operational efficiency but also optimizes resource utilization by allowing miners to secure operations across two networks concurrently. This dual approach significantly bolsters the network security for both Bitcoin and Fractal Bitcoin, a crucial factor as the blockchain ecosystem continues to evolve and mature.
Fractal Bitcoin itself stands as a testament to security and innovation. The mainnet, which was launched in September, pays tribute to the origins of Bitcoin with a genesis block message highlighting the financial instability experienced in 2009. Despite these advancements, Binance has reiterated that the inclusion of Fractal Bitcoin in its mining services does not indicate an intention to list the token on its exchange anytime soon.
Market Dynamics and Binance’s Position
The introduction of Fractal Bitcoin mining can be viewed as part of Binance’s strategy to reinforce its market position amid growing competition. In recent months, Binance has seen a drop in its market dominance, facing challenges from both centralized exchanges like Bybit, Bitget, and OKX, as well as decentralized exchanges (DEXs).
Over the past year, Binance’s share of spot trading has decreased from 52.5% to 39.5%, and its derivatives market share fell from 50.9% to 42.5%. Despite these changes, Binance remains the largest centralized exchange (CEX) in the market with an impressive $22.5 trillion in annual trading volume. Nevertheless, its shrinking dominance has provided other competitors opportunities to gain traction, with Bybit emerging as a main contender in the spot market and OKX and Bitget expanding their shares in the derivatives space.
Legal Challenges and Controversies
Amid these developments, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is taking action against Binance related to its involvement in a bribery investigation. A civil forfeiture complaint has been filed to seize $16 million worth of cryptocurrency from a Binance account allegedly linked to a scheme by Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of FTX. The funds, which include various cryptocurrencies such as Solana (SOL), ICP, AVAX, XRP, and ADA tokens, are suspected to have originated from a $40 million bribe directed at Chinese officials in 2021, aimed at unfreezing $1 billion in cryptocurrency assets. The account reportedly exhibited suspicious activity, including numerous stablecoin and Bitcoin deposits that were quickly exchanged for other cryptocurrencies, aligning it with the broader scheme.