Robert Warren: Do Mining Pools Actually Threaten Bitcoin? | SLP789

Robert Warren, Head of Comms at Elektron Energy, says Bitcoin mining pools do centralize something, but it is mainly control of block templates, not the power to reorg the chain. He treats FPPS as an insurance product: pools take variance and charge a fee, and a miner who doesn't like the deal can switch to a fallback pool almost immediately.

Stephan and Rob also walk through AntPool white-labeling, why a run of Foundry or SpiderPool blocks is usually just variance, why listed miners are leasing sites to AI and HPC, and why Elektron is staying bitcoin-first. Rob argues network security barely changes as public hashrate rotates to private operators, and that hashrate is still going up and to the right.

Timestamps

00:00 Intro

00:31 Do Mining Pools Threaten Bitcoin?

04:20 On-Chain Data Hides Miner Incentives

06:40 Why Miners Wouldn't Follow BIP 110

08:06 Miners Don't Control Hashrate's Value

10:56 If a Few Pools Find Most Blocks?

12:51 FPPS Is an Insurance Product

17:14 AntPool, White Labels, and Censorship

21:36 Censorship and Other Risks

22:36 Why Selfish Mining Stays Theoretical

24:51 A Run of Blocks Isn't Centralization

29:01 Can Miners Fix Pool Centralization?

29:17 DATUM

33:13 MARA, Ocean, and DMND on Templates

34:08 Why Public Miners Are Pivoting to AI

35:45 Why Elektron Is Staying Bitcoin-First

37:50 What Happens to Hashrate and Security?

39:36 A Rotation to Private Miners?

42:47 Will Hashrate Be Higher in 10 Years?

44:47 Hashrate Heating and Home Miners

Show notes

Links:

Robert Warren on X: https://x.com/BikesandBitcoin

Elektron Energy on X: https://x.com/ElektronEnergy

Profit Maximization and Protocol Risk (Elektron thread): https://x.com/ElektronEnergy/status/2117293466338095389

Elektron Energy: https://elektronenergy.io