Binance announced that its Bitcoin mining pool will stop operating on 10 November, after the service’s contributed hashpower dropped dramatically over the past year.
Shutdown timeline and miner instructions
The exchange gave participants about four weeks to reassign their machines before the pool ceases crediting mining shares at 07:00 UTC on the shutdown day. After that moment, Binance will no longer record work shares, and users must complete any required identity verification by 23:59 UTC to claim final payouts. The pool’s web pages will be removed on 24 November, allowing another two weeks for customers to download records and verify their balances. Those holding positions in the Pool Savings product must redeem them before the deadline.
Hashrate decline and current standing
In December, the pool was estimated at 26 exahashes per second (EH/s), representing about 2.3% of the total Bitcoin network. Recent figures show a reduction to roughly 9.2 EH/s – a fall of around 65% – placing the pool below the 1% threshold and dropping it to the 11th-largest position among miners. The service had previously employed a full pay-per-share (FPPS) payout model, compensating miners for contributed work while assuming the risk of lower block yields.
Context within the broader mining ecosystem
Binance’s exit follows the earlier shutdowns of SBI Crypto’s pool in July and OKX’s pool in early 2024. The most recent bankruptcy filing by Poolin, once responsible for nearly 20% of global hashpower, also highlights the volatility in the sector. As a result, the three dominant pools—Foundry USA, AntPool and F2Pool—now control roughly 64% of the network’s computing power, according to the latest Hashrate Index data. If the remaining Binance hashrate migrates to these operators, their combined share could approach 65%.
Potential effects on block production and transaction selection
Mining pools decide which pending transactions their miners attempt to confirm, influencing which payments are included in newly mined blocks. A reduction in the number of active pools narrows the choices available to miners and could concentrate decision-making power among the largest operators. Nevertheless, miners retain the ability to shift to smaller pools or run solo, as pool participation does not confer ownership of the underlying hardware.
Why it matters
The withdrawal of Binance’s mining service underscores a trend toward consolidation in Bitcoin’s mining landscape. With fewer pools competing for hashpower, a small group of operators may exert greater influence over block composition and transaction ordering, potentially shaping network dynamics and decentralization debates. Miners must act quickly to reallocate resources, while the market watches how the redistribution of hashrate will affect mining profitability and overall network resilience.
