James Cirrone

KuCoin said its mining pool will go offline “until further notice” in less than two weeks from Wednesday.



The pool, which supports proof-of-work coins such as bitcoin and litecoin, will suspend operations on Aug. 15 at 12 pm ET.&nbsp;



KuCoin told Blockworks the move is the result of shifting priorities for its broader business.



“The decision to suspend operations of KuCoin Pool was made to align with our evolving business strategy of focusing on core businesses and providing users with a safer and more user-friendly trading platform,” a KuCoin representative told Blockworks.



In its <a href="https://www.kucoin.com/announcement/en-announcement-kucoin-pool-to-temporarily-suspend-operations">announcement</a>, the crypto exchange recommended that users move their miners to alternative mining pools before the Aug. 15 deadline. The firm also advised users to back up their mining data before Aug. 27.



“We wish to emphasize that the security and integrity of your assets are our utmost priority. Throughout this suspension, you will retain complete access and control over your assets, and all other KuCoin offerings remain operational as usual,” the exchange wrote in a statement.



According to <a href="https://btc.com/stats/pool">BTC.com</a>, KuCoin’s mining pool is the ninth-largest in terms of hash rate share, comprising 1.2% of the network total over the past three days. 



KuCoin’s bitcoin mining pool produced 8.24 exahashes per second (EH/s) by the time of publication, while the litecoin pool produced 3.84 terahashes per second (TH/s).&nbsp;



By comparison, <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/bitcoin-miners-growth-2023">Riot Platforms reported a deployed hash rate of 10.7 EH/s as of June 30</a>.



KuCoin has faced other headwinds in the last few months. <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/eth-security-alleges-nyag">New York Attorney General Letitia James sued the crypto exchange in January</a>, and more recently, <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/layoffs-at-atmta">reports emerged of layoffs</a> at the company. Representatives for KuCoin have denied the characterization of layoffs.



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KuCoin’s mining pool to halt operations ‘until further notice’

Sebastian Sinclair

<div id="highlights-block_6316fa577ec60" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Major bitcoin mining pool Poolin is short on liquidity after mass withdrawals</li>
 <li>Withdrawals from the service&#8217;s wallet were suspended on Monday evening</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Crypto mining platform Poolin — one of the largest in the world — has frozen withdrawals until further notice as its stewards wrestle with liquidity issues and operational stability.



Poolin suspended withdrawals by 6pm ET on Monday as part of a defensive move designed to navigate a “dull crypto market,” according to a <a href="https://medium.com/@PoolinWalletOfficial/sep-5th-announcement-on-the-temporary-suspension-of-withdrawals-96a8915bcff0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">statement</a> from the firm on Sunday.



Flash trades and internal transfers within Poolin’s systems have also been halted indefinitely. The firm, which supports mining on multiple proof of work chains, said it would continue exploring “strategic alternatives with various parties.”



Still, Poolin said users&#8217; assets in its PoolinWallet are safe and that the company’s net worth was positive. Withdrawals <a href="https://help.poolin.me/hc/en-us/articles/10207618877977-Announcement-on-settlement-adjustment-and-ZERO-fee-promo" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">en masse</a> were partly to blame for the freeze, according to Poolin’s statement.



Daily mined coins have continued to be paid out per day, the firm said, while other coins have not been affected.



Liquidity has continued to plague multiple crypto firms, including <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/crashing-prices-expose-bitcoin-mining-industrys-addiction-to-leverage/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">major bitcoin mining companies</a>, following a market shakeout earlier in the year. It was later revealed large <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/celsius-lost-potential-6b-bailout-after-refusing-to-show-financials-investor-says/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">crypto lenders</a> had been overleveraged while exposed to troubled projects, making them susceptible to outsized crypto price moves.



In an effort to stabilize its liquidity woes, Poolin said it would slash certain fees and switch its payout method to bitcoin miners from Full-Pay-Per-Share (FPPS) to Pay-Per-Last-N-Shares (PPLNS).



The methods differ slightly with FPPS offering miners a share of transaction fees in a given pool while PPLNS only generates a profit based on the number of blocks mined.



Poolin has mined a tad over 10% (1,381) of all bitcoin blocks over the past three months, according to <a href="https://btc.com/stats/pool?pool_mode=month3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">BTC.com data</a>, converting to 8,361 BTC ($166.4 million at current prices). The pool is currently mining around 3.6% of all ether blocks.



Poolin said it would take a snapshot of the remaining bitcoin and ether balances within its mining pools to determine what’s owed to miners.



An update to the payout schedule for remaining balances will be released when details are finalized, Poolin said, which expects further details, as well as solutions, provided to users sometime next week.



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Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire">Subscribe to the Empire newsletter</a>.



Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/onthemargin">Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter</a>.



Get alpha directly in your inbox with the <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/research">0xResearch newsletter</a> — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.



The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/lightspeed">Subscribe to daily Solana news</a> from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.