OCEAN to reimburse miners after misrouted BTC

Mining pool OCEAN confirmed a Stratum configuration error routed some miners to the BIP-110 chain for about 18 hours after the blockchain split on Aug. 8. The pool plans to distribute about 0.3 BTC in direct rebate payments within 72 hours to match rewards miners would have earned on the non-BIP-110 main chain.

The misrouting affected miners who used OCEAN’s default Stratum templates and expected their hashpower to be directed to the non-BIP-110 chain. OCEAN attributes the issue to a flaw in its Stratum configuration that connected default templates to the BIP-110 endpoint when clients did not explicitly select a chain.

Payments will be calculated to equal the rewards miners lost on the non-BIP-110 chain during the affected window. The pool wrote: “Approximately 0.3 BTC will be distributed, with payments completed within the next 72 hours. We’ll publish the transaction details once the payments are sent.”

On July 8, OCEAN added two Stratum endpoints: one targeting the BIP-110 chain and a no-signal endpoint intended as a failover or for miners unable to use DATUM. After the split, some developers raised concerns that default pool templates could send unassigned DATUM hashpower to the BIP-110 minority chain when operators did not select an endpoint.

Developer Peter Todd criticized default pool setups, arguing templates that do not require explicit endpoint selection can channel unassigned hashrate to a stalled chain. Other participants debated the BIP-110 proposal in the weeks before blocks began enforcing it.

OCEAN restored its default Stratum endpoint to the non-BIP-110 chain and noted miners on the default endpoint do not need to take further action. Both the BIP-110 and non-BIP-110 endpoints will remain available so operators can explicitly direct their hashpower.

OCEAN will publish rebate transaction details after payments are sent and stated it restored the mainnet default to reduce the chance of similar accidental routing.