Antpool Surpasses Foundry USA in Bitcoin Mining

In a significant development in the cryptocurrency mining industry, Antpool, associated with Bitmain, has dethroned Foundry USA to become the largest bitcoin mining pool. This is the first time since January 2022 that Antpool has led in the number of monthly blocks mined. In November, Antpool mined 1,219 blocks, edging out Foundry USA’s 1,216, and earned rewards totaling 8,672 BTC, excluding 83.6 BTC set aside for refunds, according to TheMinerMag.

Foundry USA had maintained its top position since early 2022, a rise attributed to the increase in North American mining operations following China‘s crackdown in 2021. However, Antpool’s recent ascension is linked to Bitmain’s strategic imports of mining equipment to its U.S. subsidiary. Between June and November, Bitmain shipped over 4,800 metric tons of Antminer S19XP and S19XP Hydro to Georgia, U.S., adding more than 37 EH/s to its hashrate capacity.

The deployment of these miners by Bitmain has been shrouded in some mystery. Following a temporary suspension of employee paychecks in October due to issues with miner deployment, there’s speculation that Bitmain might have been utilizing these miners for its own operations. Despite Antpool’s lead in blocks mined, its self-reported real-time hashrate has consistently been lower than Foundry USA’s over the past three months, according to BTC.com data. This discrepancy raises questions about whether this is due to luck variance or a potential underreporting of Antpool’s real-time hashrate.

This shift in the mining landscape is a clear indicator of the dynamic and rapidly evolving nature of the bitcoin mining industry, where strategic decisions and technological advancements play a crucial role in determining market leadership.