Binance shuts Bitcoin mining pool after hashrate falls roughly 65% since December
In brief
- Binance Pool, Pool Savings, Cloud Mining and its transaction accelerator close at 7 a.m. UTC on Nov. 10.
- Binance Pool's hashrate fell from 26 EH/s to about 9.2 EH/s, ranking 11th, per Hashrate Index.
- Binance cited a product review and gave no financial explanation for the closure.
- Binance Pool pages come down permanently on Nov. 24, two weeks after the cutoff.
- Foundry USA, AntPool and F2Pool now hold about 64.2% of hashrate, per Hashrate Index.
From 2.3% of the network to 11th place
Binance Pool had an estimated 26 EH/s in December, or 2.3% of Bitcoin's network hashrate, according to Hashrate Index. Its latest table puts the pool at about 9.2 EH/s. That's under 1% of the network, good for 11th place.
Binance cited an ongoing review of its products and services. It didn't give a financial explanation.
The pool ran a full pay-per-share (FPPS) model, paying miners for their work and absorbing the risk that it found fewer blocks than expected. In October 2022, Binance announced a $500 million lending program through the pool (secured loans for 18 to 24 months at 5% to 10% interest). The closure notice doesn't address that program or disclose any outstanding loan balance.
What miners have to do before the cutoff
After Nov. 10, Binance will stop crediting mining shares, the records of work used to calculate payouts. Pool Savings users must redeem their positions, and anyone waiting on a final payout should complete required identity checks by 11:59 p.m. UTC that day. Pool pages come down permanently on Nov. 24, which gives customers two more weeks to download records and check payout status.
Binance hasn't said where its remaining miners will go.
Fewer exchange-era pools remain
Hashrate Index's December report described Binance Pool as the last surviving pool from the period when exchanges expanded into mining. OKX ended its mining pool services in February 2024, and SBI Crypto shut its pool on July 31 after accounting for roughly 2% of Bitcoin's computing power. Poolin, once the largest pool with nearly a fifth of global hashrate, filed for bankruptcy in July owing about $173 million (its pool share had been near zero for years).
Foundry USA, AntPool and F2Pool together held about 64.2% in Hashrate Index's latest table. December's top three held 61.4%, with ViaBTC in third instead of F2Pool. CoinDesk calculated that if all of Binance's remaining hashrate moved to the current top three, their combined share would reach roughly 65%, assuming the rest of the network stayed unchanged.
That's a hypothetical, not a forecast. Miners can point their machines at smaller providers, and pool shares don't establish ownership of the hardware. Still, closing pools narrows miners' choice of providers in a business that influences which bitcoin payments get included in blocks.
Frequently asked questions
When does Binance Pool shut down?
Binance Pool, Pool Savings, Cloud Mining, its transaction accelerator and related services close at 7 a.m. UTC on Nov. 10, according to Binance's notice as reported by CoinDesk. Pool pages will be removed permanently on Nov. 24.
What do Binance Pool users need to do before the cutoff?
Pool Savings users must redeem their positions. Anyone awaiting a final payout should complete required identity checks by 11:59 p.m. UTC on Nov. 10. After the cutoff, Binance stops crediting mining shares, and customers have until Nov. 24 to download records and check payout status.
Why is Binance closing its mining pool?
Binance cited an ongoing review of its products and services and gave no financial explanation. Hashrate Index data cited by CoinDesk show the pool's hashrate fell from about 26 EH/s in December to about 9.2 EH/s, a decline of roughly 65%.
