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What You Need to Know
As we announced a few days ago, Infinity Hash is now participating in merge mining for Fractal Bitcoin (FB) through our mining pool viaBTC. This means that, in addition to the Bitcoin we mine, we are also accumulating Fractal Bitcoin rewards in our pool wallet. Although this doesn’t require any changes to our current mining operations, this merge mining opens up new possibilities by providing additional rewards.
In this article, we aim to provide the Infinity Hash community with an understanding of what Fractal Bitcoin is, and what potential impacts it could have on our mining ecosystem. We’ll also outline the steps we plan to take moving forward, including the role of a community vote to decide how we manage the Fractal Bitcoin rewards we are now collecting.
What Is Fractal Bitcoin?
Fractal Bitcoin is a new project which aims to improve the scalability of Bitcoin by creating additional transaction layers that still use Bitcoin’s core software. These layers, called instances, operate independently while still being connected to the main Bitcoin chain. The goal is to allow more transactions to be processed without modifying Bitcoin’s core consensus mechanisms or introducing external technologies. Each layer functions similarly to the main Bitcoin network but runs in parallel to help alleviate congestion.
The approach is designed to expand Bitcoin’s processing capacity without changing the main chain’s structure. By doing this, it could potentially support more complex applications, such as decentralized finance (DeFi) and other blockchain-based services, without altering the original Bitcoin protocol or its security features.
The Fractal Bitcoin Token
While this is the scope of the project as expressed by their team, it remains to be seen whether the implementation will indeed help scale Bitcoin. As always, we recommend that you do your own research. You can learn more about Fractal Bitcoin using their documentation:
https://docs.fractalbitcoin.io/
https://fractal-bitcoin.notion.site/
What Is Merge Mining and How Does It Work?
Merge mining allows miners to mine two cryptocurrencies simultaneously using the same computational resources. In this case, while you continue mining Bitcoin, you’re also mining Fractal Bitcoin (FB) in parallel, without dedicating additional energy or hardware.
Merge mining is not new to Infinity Hash; we’ve already been successfully merge-mining other coins like Namecoin (NMC), Syscoin (SYS), and Elastos (ELA) alongside Bitcoin. While this type of mining used to provide significant rewards, the value of these coins has dropped over time, and we now only receive a few cents per day from each of them. That said, as merge mining does not require any extra resources, every increase in earnings is welcome.
What are the Implications for Infinity Hash?
As an Infinity Hash user, this means you are now dual mining Bitcoin and Fractal Bitcoin simultaneously, adding a potential extra revenue stream without any added costs. While the long-term value of Fractal Bitcoin remains uncertain, it is still a positive addition to our mining rewards, just as NMC, SYS, and ELA have been in the past. whether this contribution will have a large impact on our earnings long term will depend on the price evolution of the Fractal Bitcoin token.
Since we activated merge mining support for Fractal Bitcoin through the viaBTC pool, we’ve been collecting rewards directly in the pool wallet. At the time of writing, we’ve accumulated around 130 FB, which is currently valued at approximately $1,600 to $1,700. You can track the FB rewards we’ve collected by visiting our public pool wallet on viaBTC here.
What to Expect Moving Forward
As noted earlier, FB tokens are not currently auto-converted to Bitcoin in the pool, which is something that typically happens with dual-mined coins. We’re monitoring the situation to see if an update from viaBTC will introduce this functionality. For now, we will continue collecting FB in the pool wallet as long as the price remains stable.
Moreover, in order to decide how to manage these new rewards, we want to involve the community in the decision-making process. Next week, we plan to hold a community vote where we will present a few options based on the situation and whether there has been an update from viaBTC.
The voting options will likely include:
- Auto-conversion to Bitcoin: Should viaBTC introduce auto-conversion, this option would allow FB rewards to be automatically converted to Bitcoin, simplifying things for users who may prefer BTC over FB.
- Direct payout of FB: In this case, users would receive their Fractal Bitcoin rewards directly and could decide what to do with them—whether holding them, trading them, or using them within the Fractal ecosystem.
- User-selectable option: This would allow each user to decide whether they want their FB tokens automatically converted to BTC or paid out as FB, providing more flexibility based on individual preferences.
Please keep in mind that whatever the decision of the community, developing the implementation might take some time.
Conclusion
At Infinity Hash, our goal is to provide the most value to our miners while keeping things simple and transparent. The addition of merge mining with Fractal Bitcoin will only help this mission. Whether or not Fractal Bitcoin proves to be a significant player in the broader crypto landscape, the fact remains that it offers you an easy way to earn extra rewards without requiring any user action.
For now, we’re collecting Fractal Bitcoin rewards in the pool wallet and monitoring the market for any updates from viaBTC regarding auto-conversion options. As the situation evolves, we will keep you informed and give you the chance to participate in shaping how we handle these rewards moving forward through the upcoming community vote.
Thank you for your continued trust in Infinity Hash, and we look forward to seeing how this new opportunity enhances our mining experience. Stay tuned for more updates on Fractal Bitcoin and the community vote next week.
