Bitcoin mining pools with 75% of BTC hashrate join open standard for block construction

Foundry, AntPool, F2Pool, SpiderPool, and MARA Pool are among seven pools joining the Stratum V2 working group, putting nearly three-quarters of global bitcoin hashrate behind a protocol that returns block construction decisions to individual miners. What to know : Seven of the world’s largest bitcoin mining pools, representing nearly 75% of global hashrate, have agreed to adopt the Stratum V2 protocol, marking the biggest decentralization shift in mining in years. Stratum V2 allows individual miners, rather than pool operators, to choose which transactions go into new blocks, addressing long-standing concerns about centralized control over transaction selection. The move comes as miners face tight economics, with an estimated 20% operating unprofitably and network difficulty and hashrate continuing to climb.