The largest mining pool by hash rate share will no longer offer its services for free, according to a notice sent to clients.
Foundry, the Bitcoin mining arm of Digital Currency Group, will stop providing its services for free, according to a notice distributed to clients as reported by Bloomberg.
The company has been offering its mining pool services free of charge since 2019 which contributed to its significant growth, now holding the largest share of estimated hash rate at more than 30%.
The notice states that the mining pool fees will be tiered based on the previous quarter’s average hashrate. The change is expected to take effect between April 19 and April 22.
Recently DCG’s crypto lending unit, Genesis, filed for bankruptcy as one of the final dominos ensuing from the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX exchange.
Bitcoin mining companies faced a rocky 2022, with many on “fighting for survival,” as Bitcoin Magazine PRO analysts put it. But despite necessary moves like public miner giant Marathon Digital selling bitcoin for the first time in company history, good news has come out of the industry as 2023 takes off, such as the announcement of Terawulf’s nuclear facility operation, the expected 50MW CleanSpark expansion, and more.
This move by Foundry may be a bolstering effort designed to better mitigate the impacts of seasons like that of late 2022.
