Onchain data indicates that a single custodian now manages the coinbase addresses for at least nine prominent mining pools, which collectively account for 47% of Bitcoin’s total hashrate. The analysis shows that substantial miners’ rewards from pools like F2pool, Antpool, Binance Pool, and Braiins are being funneled to this particular custodian.
A Single Custodian Oversees Nearly Half of Bitcoin's Block Rewards
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Onchain Data Reveals Single Custodian’s Major Role in Bitcoin Block Rewards
Earlier this week, a developer at mempool.space, known as Mononaut, disclosed data regarding a substantial quantity of coinbase rewards being directed to a single custodian. “A single custodian now controls the coinbase addresses of at least 9 pools, representing 47% of total hashrate,” Mononaut stated on X. The data illustrates the consolidation of mining reward outputs from F2pool, Antpool, Binance Pool, Braiins, Btc.com, Poolin, and Secpool.
Mononaut further mentioned that the custodian handles rewards from Ultimuspool and 1Thash as well. The developer observed that previously, the entity received rewards from Luxor, but when Mononaut published details on the matter last year, Luxor apparently “changed their setup.” The developer explained that the pools collaborate, contributing hashrate to Antpool’s and Viabtc’s accelerator platforms. The mempool.space engineer added:
In other words, this one entity holds the keys to at least 47 out of every 100 freshly mined bitcoins.
This development was met with disapproval by several members of the cryptocurrency community. Crypto advocate and critic Chris Blec commented on X, stating, “this is really bad.” He further asserted, “These pools are going to destroy Bitcoin decentralization.” In the past Blec, among others, has expressed concerns over the substantial hashrate controlled by some leading pools. According to Btc.com metrics, Foundry USA holds 26.45% while Antpool possesses 24.36%.
Consequently, of the 431 blocks mined over three days, Foundry uncovered 114 and Antpool discovered 105 blocks. Out of the 2,693.75 BTC rewarded to all the miners in 72 hours, both pools captured a total of 1368.75 freshly minted BTC. The community’s primary concern revolves around any potential censorship of transactions by a concentrated mining group. Additionally, several pools have either been suspected of or caught filtering transactions.
Following the release of the X thread, Mononaut returned to disclose that the custodian in question is reportedly Cobo. “The custodian is Cobo (institutional custody and settlement provider),” Mononaut commented. On Cobo’s website, a dropdown menu lists “customers,” with links leading to specific pages such as “exchanges.” Notably, there is a section marked “mining pools,” which, unlike the exchange section, remains inaccessible.
What do you think about all the mining pools using a single custodian for block rewards? Share your thoughts and opinions about this subject in the comments section below.
