Presently, Mummolin, Inc. in Wyoming celebrates the success of securing a $6.2 million seed funding round, led by Jack Dorsey. Notable investors include Accomplice, Barefoot Bitcoin Fund, MoonKite, NewLayer Capital, and the Bitcoin Opportunity Fund.
This financial backing paves the way for the launch of OCEAN—an initiative aimed at globalizing the decentralization of Bitcoin mining, as detailed in a press release sent to Bitcoin Magazine.
— YouTube (@YouTube) November 29, 2023
“OCEAN addresses a concern for Bitcoiners that resonates with all of us—increasing centralization of mining pools, which could pose risks to essential Bitcoin attributes,” commented Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter and CEO of Block, Inc. “When I encounter a project that benefits Bitcoin as a whole and aligns with the interests of my companies, the decision to support it becomes simple for me. I’m pleased to be part of it.”
The OCEAN pool distinguishes itself as the first transparent and non-custodial platform, enabling miners to directly receive block rewards from the Coinbase transaction. This approach mitigates the risk associated with traditional pools that might withhold payments from individual miners. Mark Artymko, Mummolin’s co-founder and President, highlighted, “Conventional Bitcoin mining pools take custody of block rewards and transaction fees before distributing them among miners. This gives them the power to withhold payments from individual miners, either by their own choice or by legal mandate. OCEAN’s non-custodial payouts to miners directly from the block reward eliminate this risk and undue influence over miners within the pool.”
Luke Dashjr, long-time Bitcoin Core developer and co-founder at Mummolin, asserted, “For Bitcoin to exist as a truly decentralized currency, mining pool dynamics need to change. OCEAN is introducing a new pool paradigm that empowers miners to regain their true role. We’re launching as the most transparent pool, as well as the only non-custodial pool where miners directly receive new block rewards from Bitcoin.”
In an interview with Bitcoin Magazine, the OCEAN team identified three primary issues within today’s mining sector that they aim to address:
Centralization of block template construction: “While hashrate might be distributed globally, the practicality remains that a few individuals and the pools they control handle the intelligent aspects of mining, such as running a full node, sourcing transactions, and constructing the block template,” stated Bitcoin Mechanic, OCEAN’s Global Head of Sales. “This disproportionate influence by a select few over a vast majority has the potential to negatively impact Bitcoin. Post-launch, OCEAN plans to introduce a method for miners to independently perform block template construction while benefiting economically from being in a pool.”
Custodianship: “Most pools today use Full Pay Per Share (FPPS) payout schemes. In FPPS, pools pay miners from their internal treasuries based on miners’ work for the pools. Conversely, when a block is found, Bitcoin directly pays the pool. Essentially, the pool becomes the de facto custodian of funds, positioning itself between miners and Bitcoin like a significant Bitcoin bank account,” explained Jason Hughes, VP Development & Engineering. “This creates significant counterparty risk for miners, akin to holding Bitcoin on an exchange. OCEAN operates as a non-custodial platform; miners using OCEAN receive direct payment from the Bitcoin network via the coinbase transaction.”
Transparency: “Most pools do not provide miners visibility into the underlying transactions their hashrate commits to. This lack of transparency results in a scenario where pools operate without checks and balances, answering only after mining blocks,” Dashjr noted. “In contrast, OCEAN adopts a transparency-centric approach by publicly disclosing all transactions included in our block templates to miners before mining. This transparency is self-auditing, incentivizing OCEAN to act in good faith. By providing miners with greater insight into block construction, OCEAN enables miners to make informed decisions on where to direct their hashrate.”
In its mission to revolutionize Bitcoin mining, OCEAN plans to introduce further enhancements for Bitcoin decentralization throughout 2024. For more information, visit their website at OCEAN.xyz.
