Major Bitcoin Mining Pools Join Stratum V2 Collaborative Organization | Crypto ETF News
Crypto ETF news: Major Bitcoin Mining Pools Join Stratum V2 Collaborative Organization. This update explains what changed, why it matters for institutional adoption, market flows, and investor sentiment, and what the crypto market should watch next.
Institutional And ETF Update
Seven major Bitcoin mining pools have joined the Stratum V2 working group to develop an industry-wide open standard protocol used by mining pool operators to communicate with individual miners in their pools.AntPool, Block Inc, F2Pool, Foundry, MARA Foundation, SpiderPool, and DMND all joined the working group to collaborate on the mining pool communication standard, which could reduce the time it takes pools to successfully mine blocks, according to an announcement from Stratum V2.“Bitcoin mining is competitive and fragmented by design. It is a race for efficiency where a millisecond can determine whether a miner wins a block or loses to a competitor,” the announcement said.Foundry and AntPool are the two largest Bitcoin mining pools by hashrate, the total amount of computing power deployed by miners to secure the Bitcoin network.Foundry controls nearly 30% of the global mining pool hashrate, and AntPool controls about 17.7%, according to data from Hashrate Index.Mining pools broken down by the share of global Bitcoin mining hashrate they control. Source: Hashrate IndexDeveloping an open standard for Bitcoin mining pools that is not controlled by any one mining pool operator helps decentralize the mining industry, which has become increasingly centralized, while also giving miners greater flexibility in choosing block templates. Related: Tether launches open-source mining framework to unify Bitcoin infrastructureBitcoin mining difficulty is set to rise in the next difficulty adjustment, while energy costs soarThe Bitcoin mining difficulty, the relative challenge of adding new blocks to the ledger, is projected to rise again in the next difficulty adjustment in May.“The next Bitcoin difficulty adjustment is estimated to take place on May 15, 2026, 5:58 PM UTC, increasing the Bitcoin mining difficulty from 132.47 T to 135.64 T,” according to CoinWarz.Bitcoin mining difficulty continues to increase over the long term. Source: CoinWarzRising network difficulty and increasing energy costs are placing additional pressure on the already competitive Bitcoin mining industry.Up to 20% of Bitcoin miners are unprofitable under current crypto market and economic conditions, according to asset manager CoinShares.Hashprice, a critical metric for miner profitability, fell to levels between hit $36 and $38/Petahash-seconds per day, which is at near or at breakeven profit levels for some miners, CoinShares said.Magazine: Bitcoin may take 7 years to upgrade to post-quantum: BIP-360 co-author
Why This ETF News Matters
First, this development may affect institutional demand, exchange flows, market liquidity, and broader investor confidence. In addition, it may influence custody trends, fund positioning, and future crypto product approvals. As a result, traders and investors should watch the next moves closely.
What To Watch Next
Watch for filing updates, approval decisions, inflow and outflow data, custody changes, and asset manager commentary. In particular, any new developments involving BlackRock, Grayscale, Fidelity, or major spot ETF products could directly affect the broader crypto market.
