Tether partnered with Ocean to power their Bitcoin mining operations, optimising their hashrate and decentralizing Bitcoin’s network. Currently, Bitcoin mining is centred around only a few powerful mining pools, which endangers the independence of the blockchain ecosystem. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said the partnership aligns with Tether’s investment goals and desire to strengthen the Bitcoin network. The ocean currently mines only a small number of blocks. “As a company committed to financial freedom and open access”, wrote Paolo Ardoino, Tether CEO, “we see supporting decentralization in Bitcoin mining as essential to the network’s long-term integrity. Deploying hashrate to OCEAN aligns with our mining investments and our broader mission to fortify Bitcoin against centralizing forces”. Ocean aims to decentralize the mining process because only a select few mining pools, including AntPool, Foundry USA, and ViaBTC, currently dominate the block building process. Ocean decentralizes the process by allowing block miners to use block templates using the open-source DATUM protocol. Tether would deploy its block mining operations with DATUM, extending its network to remote African communities. The Ocean protocol is currently a small player in the block building, mining only a fraction of blocks compared to larger pools such as AntPool. Ocean mined 9 blocks in the past week, AntPool mined 199, Foundry USA mined 331, and ViaBTC mined 161. The Ocean protocol only represents between 0.2% and 1% of blocks mined. At the same time, the three big mining pools combine to mine 66% of the blocks available. The threat of centralisation of what otherwise would be a decentralized ledger presents some serious threats, such as censorship, block integrity, and market manipulation. Ocean has a hashrate of 18.3 Exahashes per second (EH/s) over 24 hours, as compared to Foundry USA’s 298 EH/s over a similar period. Foundry USA is a leader in Bitcoin mining. Ocean wishes to extend their mining operations in the future. “Tether’s decision to mine on OCEAN”, wrote Giv Zanganeh, VP Mining and Energy at Tether, “reflects months of deep technical evaluation. The DATUM protocol is the software stack most aligned with Bitcoin’s decentralization ethos. Its architecture allows us to achieve reliable connectivity even in low-bandwidth regions, expanding the reach and resilience of our infrastructure”. Tether relocated its headquarters to El Salvador, extending its global reach and developing its base in what has been described as the future crypto capital of the world. Tether also has operations in Uruguay and Paraguay. The stablecoin issuer had branched into Bitcoin mining operations, announcing a $500 million investment in 2023. This move coincides with the company’s outreach to Africa as part of its mining projects. Tether uses Datum, created by Ocean, to decentralise the mining process. Datum allows Tether to create on-site custom block templates and combines thousands of rigs with negligible latency.
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