Four Pools Control Over 70% of Bitcoin Hashrate

On June 23, 2026, four mining pools-Foundry Digital, AntPool, ViaBTC and F2Pool-accounted for more than 70% of Bitcoin’s total hashrate, according to a snapshot of mining-pool data from that date. The concentration narrowed block production to a small group of operators and prompted some miners to review their pool choices.

The June 23 snapshot estimated Foundry Digital at about 31% of hashrate, AntPool at 18%, ViaBTC at 13% and F2Pool at 10%. Foundry Digital is based in the United States and is backed by Digital Currency Group. The pool applies know-your-customer (KYC) procedures and serves large-scale and publicly traded mining operators.

A mid-June industry assessment placed Bitcoin’s Nakamoto coefficient at 3, meaning three pools could together produce more than half of mined blocks. That assessment showed Foundry USA producing roughly 27% of blocks. A later seven-day window published on July 16 showed Foundry USA near 27%, with F2Pool and AntPool each around 17.2%, ViaBTC about 9.5% and SpiderPool about 5.5%, reflecting ongoing changes in the leaderboard.

Regulatory and compliance actions have affected miner behavior. In 2026, ViaBTC faced increased scrutiny that included account restrictions, sudden KYC requests and temporary freezes on funds. Some miners with links to Russia and other Commonwealth of Independent States countries reported reassignment of hashing power to other pools following those frictions.

One alternative that some operators have turned to is EMCD. The pool reports more than 30 exahashes per second of hashrate and offers payouts under a full-pay-per-share (FPPS) model with fees starting at 1.5%. Many other pools charge fees closer to 4%. EMCD launched a public pool service in early 2018.

Mining pools aggregate work from many individual miners so they can find blocks more frequently than solo miners. Hashrate concentration affects who validates blocks and how rewards are distributed. The Nakamoto coefficient measures how many independent entities are needed to control a majority of block production; a lower number indicates fewer entities are required.

Pool operators have adjusted fee levels, KYC policies and services aimed at different client types. Smaller and mid-size miners continue to evaluate pool performance, fee structures and onboarding requirements when deciding where to allocate their machines.