GridPool

Why It's Not A Pool

GridPool operates differently than traditional pools. It's more like a protocol for solo miners to split rewards in exchange for better odds.

Nodes maintain an active payout snapshot, which defines the shared coinbase outputs after slot 0. Slot 0 always belongs to the block finder, so a full template has 300 conceptual payout slots. Miners make their own templates using this coinbase payout, and submit high-difficulty share proofs to GridPool nodes. Nodes keep a bounded unpaid Work Set. Each new Bitcoin block snapshots the strongest unpaid proofs into the active payout snapshot without clearing the reserve. When a real GridPool block is found, it pays the active snapshot and only the paid proof IDs are removed.

This model has some interesting attributes. It should have scalable resistance to block withholding attacks, since a block withholding miner would usually hurt themselves more than the other miners. It is trivial to run decentralized, and bandwidth requirements between nodes are very small. It can be used by small lottery miners to increase their odds of a (smaller) jackpot, and by large pools to lower their variance in coordination with other pools while controlling their own templates. It doesn't have the centralization pressure caused by fast block times.

We hope it will be a useful option for Bitcoin miners who value decentralization.

How to Connect

GridPool currently accepts shares from DATUM Gateway clients. Hydrapool support is planned next through the HTTP share submission API.

Connect with DATUM

1. Run a DATUM Gateway that builds sovereign Bitcoin block templates.

2. Configure DATUM with this page's host, port, and pool public key.

3. Point your ASICs at DATUM, not directly at GridPool. Raw Stratum V1 miner connections are not supported.

4. Search your payout address on this page to switch into your personal dashboard.

If your ASIC finds a Bitcoin block, DATUM submits the assembled block directly to your configured Bitcoin node with RPC submitblock. GridPool receives the proof for payout-state tracking; it is not the sole block broadcaster.

Integrate another server

CK Pool, Public Pool, Stratum V2, FutureBit, and other template-building servers can integrate through the HTTP API spec in the repository.

The trust model is simple: your server owns slot 0, builds the block template, verifies shares, submits valid blocks to Bitcoin, and submits share proofs to GridPool.

Test Tools

Use this only for local node testing. This button does not propagate to peers.

The preferred distributed test path is the automatic Bitcoin block-hash trigger shown in the Network State panel.