What is a Mining Pool?
A mining pool is a collaboration of cryptocurrency miners who pool their computing power to improve their chances of successfully validating a block and earning rewards in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Instead of mining individually, where the chances of solving a block are relatively low due to high competition, miners in a pool work together and share the rewards based on the amount of computing power they contribute.
In the context of Bitcoin or other proof-of-work cryptocurrencies, mining pools allow participants to earn more consistent and frequent payouts. This collective approach is especially beneficial for smaller miners, who would otherwise struggle to compete with large-scale operations. Mining pools distribute rewards proportionally, meaning the higher your contribution, the greater your share of the rewards.
For example, when a mining pool successfully mines a Bitcoin block, the rewards are divided among all participants based on their respective contributions of hash power. Mining pools have become an essential part of the cryptocurrency mining process as individual mining has become less profitable due to the increasing difficulty of mining.