US Dominates Bitcoin Hashrate with Over 40% Control
The landscape of Bitcoin mining has shifted dramatically, with the United States now leading the charge by accounting for over 40% of the global Bitcoin hashrate, as reported by the close of 2024. This significant portion of the network's computing power is primarily funneled through two US-based mining pools, Foundry USA and MARA Pool, which together mined more than 38.5% of all blocks last year.
Foundry USA, in particular, has seen its hashrate surge from 157 exahashes per second (EH/s) at the beginning of 2024 to an impressive 280 EH/s by December. This growth has established Foundry as the largest mining pool by hashrate, controlling about 36.5% of the Bitcoin network's total computational strength. Meanwhile, MARA Pool contributes around 32 EH/s, equating to roughly 4.35% of the global hash power. Despite this, the influence of China in Bitcoin mining remains substantial, with Chinese-based pools still commanding a majority of the global hashrate.
Hashrate Dominance and Its Implications
The debate over hashrate dominance has intensified, particularly due to the decentralized and often pseudonymous nature of Bitcoin mining. In September 2024, Ki Young Ju, the founder and CEO of CryptoQuant, pointed out that despite a ban on crypto activities in China since 2021, Chinese mining pools still managed to control 55% of the global hashrate. This is largely facilitated by technologies like VPNs, which allow miners to hide their IP addresses and connect to mining pools from within China. Moreover, peer-to-peer applications have become a conduit for bypassing the national firewall, allowing for cryptocurrency transactions to continue unabated.
The geographical spread of mining operations further complicates the picture. Mining pools might be headquartered in one country but draw on computing resources from miners scattered across the globe. This distribution makes it challenging to accurately gauge true hashrate control by any single nation or entity, as highlighted by TheMinerMag in their analysis.
Concerns about the centralization of mining power are not unfounded. The concentration of hashrate into a few major pools has sparked discussions on the security and neutrality of Bitcoin. As Bitcoin continues to evolve, the dynamics of its mining ecosystem will remain a critical area of focus for ensuring the integrity and security of the network. The dominance of US mining pools in 2024 underscores a shift in power, but the ongoing challenge lies in balancing this power to uphold the decentralized nature of Bitcoin, ensuring it remains a truly global and secure network.