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<div class="finbold"> 
 <p class="paragraph">Antpool, the second-largest Bitcoin (BTC) mining pool, mined seven blocks in a row on May 17, raising security concerns. The seven-block sequence confirmed 20,686 transactions, rendering over 23 BTC, worth around $1.54 million, in revenue.</p> 
 <p class="paragraph">In particular, the event happened between block heights 843,898 and 843,904 and lasted one hour and 38 minutes. According to <em>mempool. space</em> data, Antpool collected 1.283 BTC in fees, plus 21.875 BTC from the block subsidy.</p> 
 <figure class="wp-block-image size-large">
  <img decoding="async" width="1024" height="244" src="https://cdn.thebittimes.com/images/2024/05/18/4060f1d2b57a1af8cbc461c100991039.webp" alt class="wp-image-176671" srcset="https://cdn.thebittimes.com/images/2024/05/18/4060f1d2b57a1af8cbc461c100991039.webp 1024w, https://cdn.thebittimes.com/images/2024/05/18/4060f1d2b57a1af8cbc461c100991039.webp 300w, https://cdn.thebittimes.com/images/2024/05/18/4060f1d2b57a1af8cbc461c100991039.webp 768w, https://cdn.thebittimes.com/images/2024/05/18/4060f1d2b57a1af8cbc461c100991039.webp 1536w, https://cdn.thebittimes.com/images/2024/05/18/4060f1d2b57a1af8cbc461c100991039.webp 1722w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px">
  <figcaption class="wp-element-caption">
   Block heights 843,898 to 843,904. Source: <em>mempool.space</em> / Finbold
  </figcaption>
 </figure> 
 <p class="paragraph">Interestingly, Foundry USA, the largest Bitcoin mining pool, mined the previous block of this sequence and the two next blocks. This makes a sequence of 10 blocks mined by two companies, challenging the decentralization and security of the leading cryptocurrency.</p> 
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    </path> <path d="M15.996 18.6668L20.4626 14.2815C20.738 14.0166 20.9571 13.6989 21.1068 13.3473C21.2564 12.9957 21.3336 12.6176 21.3336 12.2355C21.3336 11.8534 21.2564 11.4752 21.1068 11.1236C20.9571 10.7721 20.738 10.4543 20.4626 10.1895C19.9074 9.64148 19.1587 9.33422 18.3786 9.33422C17.5985 9.33422 16.8498 9.64148 16.2946 10.1895L15.996 10.4801L15.6973 10.1881C15.1423 9.64023 14.3938 9.33301 13.614 9.33301C12.8341 9.33301 12.0856 9.64023 11.5306 10.1881C11.2552 10.453 11.0361 10.7707 10.8865 11.1223C10.7368 11.4739 10.6597 11.852 10.6597 12.2341C10.6597 12.6162 10.7368 12.9944 10.8865 13.346C11.0361 13.6975 11.2552 14.0153 11.5306 14.2801L15.996 18.6668Z" fill="#EF4444"> 
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 <p class="paragraph">The <em>Public Pool</em> account raised the security concern in a post on X.</p> 
 <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter">
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   <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true"> 
    <p lang="en" dir="ltr">How many blocks in a row until you do something about it Anon? pic.twitter.com/H8FAZ1Stp9</p>— Public Pool (@Public_Pool_BTC) May 17, 2024 
   </blockquote> 
  </div>
 </figure> 
 <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-bitcoin-mining-pool-centralization-and-security-concerns">Bitcoin mining pool centralization and security concerns</h2> 
 <p class="paragraph">Essentially, the proof-of-work consensus mechanism Bitcoin uses establishes a round leader to add transactions to a block and broadcast this block to the network peers, who will add it to their ledger. The leader is the miner who finds the next valid block according to the hashrate each miner produces.</p> 
 <p class="paragraph">Bitcoin’s <a rel="dofollow" title="security" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/security.html">security</a> premise lies in the idea that different entities that do not know each other will find different <a rel="dofollow" title="blocks" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/blocks.html">blocks</a>. This prevents a malicious actor from spending the same coin twice or adding an invalid transaction to the <a rel="dofollow" title="block" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/block.html">block</a>chain.</p> 
 <p class="paragraph">Moreover, having multiple miners competing equally diminishes the chances of a “chain reorg.” The reorganization excludes <a rel="dofollow" title="blocks" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/blocks.html">blocks</a> from the <a rel="dofollow" title="block" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/block.html">block</a>chain and could revert confirmed transactions—as if they never existed.</p> 
 <p class="paragraph">Bitcoin mining pools are considered a single entity despite having multiple miners working for them because the pool coordinator manages the contributed hashrate, adds transactions to blocks, broadcasts blocks to the network, and pays the contributing miners accordingly.</p> 
 <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-who-is-antpool">Who is Antpool?</h2> 
 <p class="paragraph">Antpool is a Chinese company subsidiary of the world’s largest Bitcoin mining equipment producer, Bitmain. In November 2023, the company raised controversy in the Bitcoin community by arbitrarily refunding an 83 BTC fee.</p> 
 <p class="paragraph">Notably, the pool has mined 25.48% of all blocks in the last seven days. It loses only to Foundry USA, with 31.12% of the network’s hashrate—both with a 56.6% mining dominance. In October 2023, Antpool briefly challenged Foundry’s leadership for three days.</p> 
 <figure class="wp-block-image size-large">
  <img decoding="async" width="1024" height="345" src="https://cdn.thebittimes.com/images/2024/05/18/54550ce9752e398342608d1a07dc3b68.webp" alt class="wp-image-176672" srcset="https://cdn.thebittimes.com/images/2024/05/18/54550ce9752e398342608d1a07dc3b68.webp 1024w, https://cdn.thebittimes.com/images/2024/05/18/54550ce9752e398342608d1a07dc3b68.webp 300w, https://cdn.thebittimes.com/images/2024/05/18/54550ce9752e398342608d1a07dc3b68.webp 768w, https://cdn.thebittimes.com/images/2024/05/18/54550ce9752e398342608d1a07dc3b68.webp 1536w, https://cdn.thebittimes.com/images/2024/05/18/54550ce9752e398342608d1a07dc3b68.webp 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px">
  <figcaption class="wp-element-caption">
   Bitcoin mining pools weekly ranking. Source: <em>mempool.space</em> / Finbold
  </figcaption>
 </figure> 
 <p class="paragraph">In this context, a Bitcoin developer believes transactions should wait at least two hours before being considered secure. This is because the more subsequent blocks after the one carrying a transaction, the lower the chances of a chain reorg and the more probable a transaction is to reach finality.</p> 
 <p class="paragraph">Antpool’s recent seven-block sequence demonstrates that the developer’s concerns are real and should be considered.</p> 
</div> 
<p>Source: <a rel="dofollow" target="_blank" href="https://thebittimes.com/bitcoin-pool-mines-seven-blocks-in-a-row-raises-security-concerns-tbt88739.html">https://thebittimes.com/bitcoin-pool-mines-seven-blocks-in-a-row-raises-security-concerns-tbt88739.html</a></p>

Bitcoin pool mines seven blocks in a row, raises security concerns

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