{"id":26287,"date":"2025-08-20T15:00:04","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T12:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/?p=26287"},"modified":"2025-08-22T17:43:03","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T14:43:03","slug":"two-mining-pools-seize-51-of-bitcoin-hashrate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/two-mining-pools-seize-51-of-bitcoin-hashrate\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Mining Pools Seize 51% of Bitcoin Hashrate"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The mining pools Foundry USA and AntPool now control over half of the hashrate of the leading cryptocurrency network, potentially paving the way for a 51% attack. This was stated by WhaleWire CEO Jacob King.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Two Bitcoin mining pools now control over 51% of the network. The door is wide open for a 51% attack, which could completely destroy BTC.<\/p>\n<p>For context, the last and only time this happened was 11 years ago, in 2014, with GHash,io. They had to voluntarily reduce their hashrate to\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/SMLpVrGGdG\">pic.twitter.com\/SMLpVrGGdG<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Jacob King (@JacobKinge) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JacobKinge\/status\/1957863664930689370?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 19, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>According to him, the last time such a situation occurred was in 2015, when GHash.io reached a similar level of dominance. At that time, the mining pool voluntarily reduced its share of the hashrate following a wave of criticism.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;GHash faced powerful <span data-descr=\"distributed denial-of-service attack\" class=\"old_tooltip\">DDoS<\/span> attacks, became a target for Bitcoin maximalists, and was eventually forced to cease operations,&#8221; King explained.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>However, this did not prevent the price of the leading cryptocurrency from falling by 87%.<\/p>\n<p>The expert <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/JacobKinge\/status\/1957341329421144460\">added<\/a> that on August 18, Foundry USA mined eight blocks in a row. Many transactions had fees of less than a satoshi per virtual byte (sat\/vB). Earlier, CK Pool administrator Con Kolivas <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/solo-miner-strikes-bitcoin-block-earns-371000\">expressed concern<\/a> about this trend.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>King pointed out the risks of centralization, which he believes are ignored by proponents of digital gold. He argues that the market currently relies on unstable factors:\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>stablecoin manipulation;<\/li>\n<li><span data-descr=\"fear of missing out\" class=\"old_tooltip\">FOMO<\/span> among retail investors;<\/li>\n<li>false narratives spread by maximalists.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The CEO of WhaleWire predicted an imminent market collapse, likening it to a &#8220;game of musical chairs.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Community Reaction<\/h2>\n<p>Many doubted the feasibility of a 51% attack on Bitcoin, citing economic impracticality and technical challenges. A user by the nickname Brad emphasized that Foundry USA and AntPool are based in different jurisdictions \u2014 the US and China. This makes their coordination unlikely.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-conversation=\"none\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Theoretically possible but it is not realistic to think a company in Rochester, NY and one Beijing China would simultaneously collaborate to destroy their businesses.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 \u20bfrad (@BradSanJuan) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BradSanJuan\/status\/1957895139839361469?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 19, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>PandaPunk reminded that Foundry and Grayscale belong to Digital Currency Group, which holds a significant amount of Bitcoin.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;Does your brilliant theory suggest they would destroy their own investments?&#8221; \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/realpandapunks\/status\/1957959590265659415\">he noted<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Developer Enjo.btc explained that mining pools consist of independent participants.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">JFC its a pool<\/p>\n<p>A pool is made up of many miners, meaning 100% of participants in the pool would have to be onboard to attempt a 51% attack.<\/p>\n<p>GTFO with this BS<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Enjo.btc \ud83e\udd77\ud83c\udffd (\ud83c\udf0b,\ud83c\udf0b) \ud83d\udfe7 (@enjoywithouthey) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/enjoywithouthey\/status\/1957951195978371174?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 19, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;A 51% attack would require 100% agreement from miners in the pool, which is impossible,&#8221; he noted.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"wp-block-text-wrappers-update-2 article_update\"><time class=\"gtb_text-wrappers_update_time\">August 21, 2025 | 12:52<\/time><span class=\"gtb_text-wrappers_update_head\">Update: <\/span><\/p>\n<p>In a comment to ForkLog, NoOnes CEO Ray Youssef emphasized that the Bitcoin network and its community &#8220;demonstrate distinctive resilience in the face of challenges.&#8221; According to him, miners, developers, and users share a common interest in maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem, which remains unchanged.<\/p>\n<p>Youssef pointed to a more serious structural issue. He warned that the real vulnerability lies in the reliance on centralized players like large financial institutions and stablecoin issuers. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Some also <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Dylgardner\/status\/1957866674381594961\">noted<\/a> that crypto miners can instantly leave such an association if suspicious actions occur. Meanwhile, reputational risks and the threat of a fork make a potential 51% attack economically pointless.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A crypto enthusiast under the pseudonym Beljeezee <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/dbelgrad\/status\/1958050219591102859\">compared<\/a> the likelihood of such a scenario to the chances of winning an arm-wrestling match against Dwayne &#8220;The Rock&#8221; Johnson. He added that the end of the crypto industry &#8220;certainly won&#8217;t happen today.&#8221;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Earlier, the CEO of the Bitcoin liquidity protocol, Hassan Khan, <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/ethereum-developer-compares-51-attack-costs-on-bitcoin-and-ethereum\">emphasized<\/a> that debates about the feasibility of a 51% attack remain open only due to its theoretical possibility. According to him, &#8220;in practice, the barriers are extremely high.&#8221;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Back on August 12, the mining pool Qubic <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/qubic-mining-pool-seizes-control-of-monero\">seized<\/a> control over Monero. However, researchers later <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/researchers-debunk-alleged-51-attack-on-monero\">called<\/a> the incident a &#8220;staged media stunt to promote their own project.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The mining pools Foundry USA and AntPool now control over half of the hashrate of the leading cryptocurrency network, potentially paving the way for a 51% attack. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26288,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"select":"1","news_style_id":"1","cryptorium_level":"","_short_excerpt_text":"Foundry USA and AntPool control over half of Bitcoin's hashrate, raising 51% attack concerns.","creation_source":"","_metatest_mainpost_news_update":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1395,18,1137],"class_list":["post-26287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-51-percent-attack","tag-bitcoin","tag-cryptocurrency-mining"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"views":"423","promo_type":"1","layout_type":"1","short_excerpt":"Foundry USA and AntPool control over half of Bitcoin's hashrate, raising 51% attack concerns.","is_update":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26287"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26287\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26289,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26287\/revisions\/26289"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}