OCEAN (Bitcoin mining pool)

OCEAN is a Bitcoin mining pool released in November 2023 with the stated goal of decentralizing Bitcoin mining by giving miners the ability to select or construct their own block templates, reducing reliance on centralized pool operators.^[1][2] It was co-founded by former Bitcoin-Core developer Luke Dashjr and financially backed by Jack Dorsey, who led the seed investment round.^[3][4]

OCEAN

Company type	Mining pool
Headquarters	San Salvador, El Salvador
Key people	Luke Dashjr, Co-Founder; Jack Dorsey, Seed funder

Mission and structure

OCEAN describes itself as a "permissionless," "non-custodial," "radically transparent" mining pool since it is open-source and allows direct payouts to miners based on hash rate without requiring a central pool operator.^[3] The pool is also non-KYC, meaning that miners do not have to divulge personal information to participate.^[5] The company launched publicly at the Future of Bitcoin Mining Conference held in South Carolina in November 2023.^[3] In May 2024, OCEAN established its global headquarters in San Salvador, El Salvador,^[6] citing alignment with the country's supportive stance on Bitcoin and favorable regulatory environment.^[7][8] OCEAN also stated that, "El Salvador will be the 'global hub of business development'" for the company.^[8]

Decentralization features

OCEAN claims that a central feature of its protocol's design is that it allows for miners to construct or select their own block templates, a function that was traditionally managed exclusively by the pool operator.^[2] This change was intended to reduce the concentration of power in mining pools and restore more control to individual miners over which transaction are included in blocks.^[9]

OCEAN claims that this model enhances transparency and decentralization by ensuring that transaction selection is not solely determined by a central authority within the pool. By eliminating custodianship of rewards and shifting block template construction to the miners directly, OCEAN aims to prevent the kind of centralization that some critics believe undermines Bitcoin's decentralized ethos.^[10]