GoMining Mines First Bitcoin Block Using Stratum V2, Giving Miners Control Over Block Creation

Bitcoin mining may have taken an important step toward becoming more decentralized.

GoMining has mined what it says is the first publicly known Bitcoin block using Stratum V2, a next-generation mining protocol that lets miners decide which transactions go into the blocks they produce instead of leaving those decisions to mining pools.

The block was mined through the DMND mining pool using Stratum V2's Job Declaration feature, allowing GoMining to build and submit its own block template while still benefiting from pooled mining.

Although mining pools have long helped participants combine computing power and earn more consistent rewards, they have traditionally been responsible for selecting transactions and assembling blocks.

Stratum V2 changes that balance by returning block construction to miners.

Why It Matters

Bitcoin mining has become increasingly concentrated around a relatively small number of mining pools. While miners own the hardware, pools have historically controlled which transactions make it into each block.

Supporters of Stratum V2 believe that giving miners control over block templates strengthens Bitcoin's decentralization by reducing the influence pools have over the network.

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GoMining's successful block is one of the first public demonstrations that the technology can work in a live production environment.

"This block demonstrates that miners can now participate in pooled mining while retaining control over block construction," said Mark Zalan, CEO of GoMining. "For years, mining pools have largely determined which transactions are included in Bitcoin blocks. By creating our own block template and including GoBTC Pay transactions, we're demonstrating one of the practical capabilities that Stratum V2 makes possible."

More Than Just a Mining Upgrade

The block wasn't simply a technical proof of concept. GoMining also included transactions generated through GoBTC Pay, its recently announced open-source protocol for instant, non-custodial Bitcoin payments on Layer 1.

By selecting its own transactions, the company demonstrated how miners could eventually prioritize applications, payment systems or services they operate themselves—without depending on a mining pool to include them.

The successful block highlights one of the practical benefits of Stratum V2 beyond improved network efficiency and security.

"A miner just mined the first Stratum V2 block to power their own product end to end," said Alejandro De La Torre, CEO and Co-founder of DMND. "GoMining declared the template and included their GoBTC Pay payments with no pool in the way. We built DMND for exactly this."

The Road Ahead for Stratum V2

Development of Stratum V2 has been underway for several years with contributions from developers across the Bitcoin ecosystem. In addition to improving communication between miners and pools, the protocol introduces encrypted connections, greater efficiency, and perhaps most importantly, miner-controlled block creation.

Despite broad support from many Bitcoin developers, adoption has been gradual, with much of the mining industry continuing to rely on older infrastructure.

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GoMining's latest block represents another real-world deployment of the protocol and could encourage broader adoption as miners look for greater independence without sacrificing the economic benefits of pooled mining.

GoMining serves more than five million users and ranks among the world's largest Bitcoin miners by hashrate. The company has been expanding beyond mining in recent months, introducing products such as GoBTC Pay as it builds a broader Bitcoin-focused ecosystem spanning mining, payments and digital assets.