Decentralized Bitcoin mining pool OCEAN disclosed a sizable achievement securing $6.3 million in seed funding from multiple backers.
Notably, the primary backing for this investment originates from Jack Dorsey, a staunch Bitcoin advocate and the co-founder and CEO of Block Inc., as well as the co-founder and former CEO of X (formerly Twitter).
Addressing Problems Of Centralization On Bitcoin Mining Pools
Dorsey pointed up in a statement that his support from OCEAN stems from a profound admiration for their mission. According to him, OCEAN is addressing a critical concern for Bitcoin enthusiasts and further centralization within mining pools, which is a potential threat to cherished Bitcoin attributes.
“Our contribution to OCEAN comes out of a deep respect for their mission … OCEAN is solving a problem for Bitcoiners that I think all of us feel — further centralization of pools and mining pools that could plague Bitcoin, and how that risks a bunch of Bitcoin attributes that we hold dear.”
Read: Jack Dorsey’s Presidential Endorsement: Implications For Robert Kennedy Jr. And Bitcoin
Multiple Backers Of OCEAN
Contributing alongside Dorsey in this seed round are notable entities such as Accomplice, Mummolin, Barefoot Bitcoin Fund, MoonKite, NewLayer Capital and the Bitcoin Opportunity Fund.
Read: NPO Brink Gets $5 Million Pledge From #smart small Founded By Jack Dorsey
What Is OCEAN?
OCEAN (not to be confused with Ocean Protocol) is the first transparent, non-custodial mining pool wherein Bitcoin miners directly receive block rewards from the Coinbase transaction eliminating the risks correlated with traditional mining pools suppressing payments from the miners.
Mummolin co-founder and president Mark Artymko elaborates OCEAN’s non-custodial payouts directly to the miners from the block reward removes this risk and the pool’s unreasonable influence over miners.
“Traditional Bitcoin mining pools take exclusive custody of block rewards and transaction fees before splitting them up amongst miners. This gives them the ability to withhold payment from individual miners, whether by their own choice or by legal requirement. OCEAN’s non custodial payouts directly to miners from the block reward remove this risk and the pool’s undue influence over miners.”
Final Thoughts
The OCEAN team pointed out multiple areas to address in the Bitcoin mining industry together with centralization of block template construction, custodianship issues and the lack of transparency mining pools.
The OCEAN team may be getting ready for a more decentralized Bitcoin ecosystem, anticipating a greater extent of improvements and upgrades for next year, and this investment round could change how the Bitcoin mining industry may structure the status quo into a more transparent and decentralized manner.