Jack Dorsey is backing a new startup who wants to decentralize Bitcoin mining.
What’s happening:
- Cheyenne, Wyoming based Bitcoin mining software company Mummolin has raised $6.2M USD in a seed round
- The round was led by Twitter and Square founder Jack Dorsey and included other notable venture funds such as Barefoot Bitcoin Fund, MoonKite, New Layer Capital and more
- Mummolin is preparing to launch a decentralized Bitcoin mining project known as OCEAN
The big idea:
- OCEAN is a non custodial mining pool, which means individual miners get paid directly by the Bitcoin network
- OCEAN plans to launch a new marketplace where miners can sell their unrewarded proof of work directly over the Lightning network for Bitcoin that is freely spendable or tradable
- Being able to sell unrewarded proof of work will enable miners to save on expensive on chain fees they would otherwise have to incur
Why it matters:
- Traditional Bitcoin mining pools take exclusive custody of mining rewards, which means that they could choose to not pay individual miners based on their own judgement
- Many in the Bitcoin ecosystem have been outspoken that this could become a form of censorship in the future and harm the core values of Bitcoin’s decentralized nature
