Bitcoin PPLNS Questions

Hey all:

Just grabbed a new FutureBit Apollo BTC after waiting 6 months for delivery. FPPS is negative profitability right now with the coin prices in the tank, so I thought I'd do PPLNS with Bitcoin to try it out. I wanted to see if I understand this correctly. I've watched the video on PPLNS, and looked at the status for Bitcoin, and only see "First Round" with no other rounds. Has this pool NEVER found a Bitcoin block? Other coins show a history of PPLNS, and Bitcoin doesn't have this, so this is why I ask. Additionally, I don't see anything showing for how much hash power is being thrown at Bitcoin either. It would help immensely to know how many others are at this. Because if I'm literally the only person, or nearly the only person, throwing power at this, I'm going to solo mine and take the whole cake if I find it instead of sharing with people that aren't even mining anymore. (Again, if I understand this process right.)

Thanks for anyone that can shed light on this!

daringone wrote: Has this pool NEVER found a Bitcoin block? Other coins show a history of PPLNS, and Bitcoin doesn't have this, so this is why I ask.

I asked this a while back, but didn't get an answer - other than any records of previous BTC blocks found would have been archived.

FYI, I have been mining this PPLNS since the end of October, at great expense.
It's kind of a vendetta to see it through now!

There have never been any PPLNS blocks of bitcoins mined. However, the pool has found many bitcoin blocks in FPPS mode over the years, but hasn't found any recently because FPPS bitcoin mining is only available to trusted miners right now.

daringone wrote: Hey all:

Just grabbed a new FutureBit Apollo BTC after waiting 6 months for delivery. FPPS is negative profitability right now with the coin prices in the tank, so I thought I'd do PPLNS with Bitcoin to try it out. I wanted to see if I understand this correctly. I've watched the video on PPLNS, and looked at the status for Bitcoin, and only see "First Round" with no other rounds. Has this pool NEVER found a Bitcoin block? Other coins show a history of PPLNS, and Bitcoin doesn't have this, so this is why I ask. Additionally, I don't see anything showing for how much hash power is being thrown at Bitcoin either. It would help immensely to know how many others are at this. Because if I'm literally the only person, or nearly the only person, throwing power at this, I'm going to solo mine and take the whole cake if I find it instead of sharing with people that aren't even mining anymore. (Again, if I understand this process right.)

Thanks for anyone that can shed light on this!

I have a few ASICs on Bitcoin PPLNS since at least August 2021. I'm going to keep at it!

Steve Sokolowski wrote: There have never been any PPLNS blocks of bitcoins mined. However, the pool has found many bitcoin blocks in FPPS mode over the years, but hasn't found any recently because FPPS bitcoin mining is only available to trusted miners right now.

Thanks for the confirmation. Two more questions then. One, how do we know how many folks are running in PPLNS, as this matters GREATLY in decision making for the hash power, and two, if you're a Trusted Miner (I am) do you get Bitcoin blocks inserted if you run in Proswitching mode for SHA-256? Or do you specifically have to choose Bitcoin for FPPS instead of all coins in the algo? And is there an extra step to be able to FPPS mine Bitcoin to get that approval? Thanks for the help!

dalr46 wrote:

daringone wrote: Hey all:

Just grabbed a new FutureBit Apollo BTC after waiting 6 months for delivery. FPPS is negative profitability right now with the coin prices in the tank, so I thought I'd do PPLNS with Bitcoin to try it out. I wanted to see if I understand this correctly. I've watched the video on PPLNS, and looked at the status for Bitcoin, and only see "First Round" with no other rounds. Has this pool NEVER found a Bitcoin block? Other coins show a history of PPLNS, and Bitcoin doesn't have this, so this is why I ask. Additionally, I don't see anything showing for how much hash power is being thrown at Bitcoin either. It would help immensely to know how many others are at this. Because if I'm literally the only person, or nearly the only person, throwing power at this, I'm going to solo mine and take the whole cake if I find it instead of sharing with people that aren't even mining anymore. (Again, if I understand this process right.)

Thanks for anyone that can shed light on this!

I have a few ASICs on Bitcoin PPLNS since at least August 2021. I'm going to keep at it!

Well, at least I know I'm not COMPLETELY alone! But I know there can't be many of us, since my share is increasing at a much higher rate than I get mining FPPS on another pool.

I have noticed that the pool luck for the PPLNS BTC mining is gradually getting closer to 100%, which I believe would be the sweet spot.

At the moment we're at 434.99 %, which if I understand it correctly means that we are submitting over 4 times the amount of shares that would be required to find a block, on average.

Please correct me if I am wrong - I usually am wrong

I do wonder if I should be connecting to a server that is nearer to me (in the UK) - I didn't check to see if there are regional servers yet.
If there were, would connecting to one be more helpful?

daringone wrote:

Steve Sokolowski wrote: There have never been any PPLNS blocks of bitcoins mined. However, the pool has found many bitcoin blocks in FPPS mode over the years, but hasn't found any recently because FPPS bitcoin mining is only available to trusted miners right now.

Thanks for the confirmation. Two more questions then. One, how do we know how many folks are running in PPLNS, as this matters GREATLY in decision making for the hash power, and two, if you're a Trusted Miner (I am) do you get Bitcoin blocks inserted if you run in Proswitching mode for SHA-256? Or do you specifically have to choose Bitcoin for FPPS instead of all coins in the algo? And is there an extra step to be able to FPPS mine Bitcoin to get that approval? Thanks for the help!

Yes, bitcoin is mined by Trusted Miners in both modes. However, bitcoin isn't always the most profitable coin, and most Trusted Miners end up mining bitcoin cash for a lot of the time.

Unfortunately, the system doesn't currently collect or publish statistics about how many customers are mining in which modes, only the total number of customers. This feature has been asked for many times before; however, right now we are focused on hiring and on the rebranding effort, and will consider this feature during the summer.

Steve Sokolowski wrote: Yes, bitcoin is mined by Trusted Miners in both modes. However, bitcoin isn't always the most profitable coin, and most Trusted Miners end up mining bitcoin cash for a lot of the time.

Unfortunately, the system doesn't currently collect or publish statistics about how many customers are mining in which modes, only the total number of customers. This feature has been asked for many times before; however, right now we are focused on hiring and on the rebranding effort, and will consider this feature during the summer.

Steve, thanks for your transparency.

It is very much appreciated.

OneOfThePetes wrote: I have noticed that the pool luck for the PPLNS BTC mining is gradually getting closer to 100%, which I believe would be the sweet spot.

At the moment we're at 434.99 %, which if I understand it correctly means that we are submitting over 4 times the amount of shares that would be required to find a block, on average.

Please correct me if I am wrong - I usually am wrong

I do wonder if I should be connecting to a server that is nearer to me (in the UK) - I didn't check to see if there are regional servers yet.
If there were, would connecting to one be more helpful?

Pool luck 414.83 % now
Getting closer within the infinite.

Hold strong!
Mine strong!

Good luck everybody!
(Pun intended)