Parasite Pool, with a hashrate of 5.33 pH/s, offers zero commissions and payments via lightning. Other Pools, such as Demand and Ocean also bet on autonomy with Stratum V2 and Datum. The centralization of Bitcoin mining (BTC) in large pools and industrial companies is a growing concern for those who defend the original principles of this network: a decentralized system where anyone can participate without intermediaries. In response to this trend, new mining pools have emerged that seek to change the current game rules, prioritizing individual miners and promoting a more equitable distribution of computing power.
Parasite Pool: an approach to lonely miners
In this context, on May 9, 2025 Parasite Pool was launched, a mining pool Focused on solitary minersthose that operate from home or with modest equipment. This project was developed by the Bitcoiner known in X as Zk_shark, who is also the creator of Ordinal Maxi Biz (WBO), a collection of 5,141 unique digital images registered in Bitcoin through the Ordinals protocol, a mechanism that allows you to store data such as images directly on the network. Since its launch, the computational power (or hashrate) of Parasite Pool has shown remarkable growth: it reached 5.39 ph/s (petahas per second), with a significant jump on May 12, When it went from 1 pH/sa almost 5 pH/s in a single day.
The adoption of Parasite Pool grew rapidly. Source: Parasite Space. Yes, it's true. There are currently four pools (Foundry USA, Antpool, F2pool and Viaabtc) that house more than 70% of the total power contributed to the network by the Pools and these platforms support a hashrate that goes from the 100 EH/S almost 270 eh/s. For example, considering Foundry USA Hashrate of almost 270 eh/s, it can be estimated that it is approximately 5.065.404% higher that the processing power that registers parasite (freshly launched) with 0.00539 EH/s (5.39 pH/s). However, the latter's gaze seems to be gaining ground in solitary miners, which could be translated as a cry in favor of the decentralization of this activity.
Characteristics that drive their adoption
What explains this rapid adoption? The pool characteristics seem to be key. Parasite Pool operates with zero commissions and a minimum payment threshold of just 10 satoshis, unlike the high minimums imposed by other pools. In addition, it uses simplified payments through the second layer network (L2) Lightning Network (LN), cheaper and faster than the base layer, integrating with wallets «easy to use as Xverse,» according to a trader and bitcoiner in X, known as Joshmichalski. The following image, extracted from the announcement of Parasite, reflects the differences that those who created that pool consider that they favor solitary miners, at the expense of what is offered by other pools:
Parasite Pool would allow greater stability for solitary miners. Source: Parasite. Its logic of distribution of rewards is also innovative: prioritizes small miners by granting 1 BTC to the one who finds a block, while the rest of the reward (2,125 BTC plus transaction rates) is distributed among active participants by lighting. In addition, the pool offers stability when making payments only after a block is mine, avoiding insolvency risks.
Voices in favor of decentralization
Users in X have shared opinions that reflect the interest that this approach has generated. One of them expressed on Parasite: «It makes Bitcoin mining more cheap, easy and fair For small miners. Eliminate intermediaries and commissions, so more of your profits are in your hands. It is experimental, but it is already active and anyone can try it. It is a decentralized rebellion that seeks to restore the original Bitcoin mission of peer power ». Another user compared Parasite with «a swarm of common users decentralizing Bitcoin.» A third comment said: «Parasite pool is Bitcoin's mining rebellion We were waiting! The centralized pools are drowning Satoshi's dream, uploading the commissions and leaving aside common users ».
Other pools that bet on autonomy
The emergence of Parasite Pool is not an isolated case, but part of a broader trend in which various pools are committed to returning control to individual miners. Among them, as cryptootics reported, is demand pool, launched on March 18, 2025. This pool uses the Stratum V2 (SV2) protocol, and in particular by default the “work negotiation” function, allowing the miners Choose the transactions that make up your block templateswhich gives them greater autonomy in the mining process. Another example is Ocean, a pool co -founded by developer Luke Dashjr, who uses the Datum protocol (decentralized alternative templates for universal mining, for his translation into Spanish). This system enables miners to transmit their blocks directly to the network From its own Bitcoin nodeswithout Pool intervention, which increases control over its privacy and reduces the dependence of intermediaries. A third initiative is public pool, created by Umbrel, a decentralized application store. This pool shares similarities with Parasite Pool When focusing on solitary minersoffering an alternative for those who seek to participate in the network without joining large industrial operations. It is also worth highlighting the solock server, a platform for domestic miners through which several solitary miners with little computing power have achieved the feat of undermining 1 Bitcoin block. These efforts reflect a movement towards decentralization at a time when Bitcoin mining faces structural challenges. Four great pools, what They concentrate more than 70% of the global hashrate According to Mempool.