Key facts:
Merged mining allows miners to mine two cryptocurrencies at the same time.
Fractal Bitcoin, a BTC sidechain, launched its mainnet on September 9.
ViaBTC, one of the most recognized cryptocurrency mining pools, announced the launch of merged mining for Bitcoin (BTC) and Fractal Bitcoin (FB). This initiative, also called combined mining, will allow miners to participate in the extraction of both crypto assets simultaneouslyoperating both networks with a single effort.
ViaBTC Announcement comes just days after the launch of the mainnet (mainnet) of Fractal Bitcoin. On September 9, CriptoNoticias reported the launch of the mainnet (mainnet) of FB. It is a sidechain or sidechain based on the Bitcoin Core core code that proposes to improve the scalability of the main network.
Additionally, the mining pool clarified that FB mining will be based on the technique known as merged mining (merged mining).
Merged mining allows mine two different cryptocurrencies that use the same algorithm hash simultaneouslyBoth BTC and FB use the SHA-256 algorithm, so both blockchains are compatible in terms of the type of proofs they require.
Thus, a miner working on solving the cryptographic puzzle for a main cryptocurrency (in this case, bitcoin), can process a block that is also valid for the secondary chain (FB).
If the solved block is valid for both chains, it is recorded on both networks, and the miner receives a reward from each. Thusthe miner then receives rewards from both chains for the same computational workThis process is efficient because the miner does not have to divide his resources between both chains. He only performs a single proof of work and can benefit from two different cryptocurrencies.
In turn, secondary chains (like FB) can benefit from bitcoin’s mining power, making them more secure without the need to attract dedicated miners.
ViaBTC accumulates holdings of 374 Bitcoin
Founded in 2016, ViaBTC, the mining pool accumulates approximately 374 BTC. In the last 24 hours it has mined 13 blocks, which is equivalent to almost 41 BTC or $2.5 billion at the time of writing.
According to the ranking of pools prepared by the mempool site, is ranked 7th. In the following graph from this site you can see, in pink, the historical evolution of ViaBTC’s dominance over other pools and, in yellow, the growth of the hashrate.
Regarding the first metric, although it shows peaks of rises and falls, from the end of 2023 to the present it has shown growth in the industry, although it is worth noting that it is surpassed by the competition.
Ultimately, the chart shows a rise in the rate of hash (over the same period as dominance) meaning more people are using the pool to mine bitcoin.
