Crypto exchange Binance has launched an Ethereum mining pool, seven months after launching a Bitcoin mining pool.
The expansion means Binance Pool users can now also mine ether (ETH), in addition to bitcoin (BTC). Binance will charge a 0.5% pool fee for ETH mining, half of what its competitors are charging. Ethermine and SparkPool, for instance, levy a 1% fee for ETH mining rewards.
For the first month, however, i.e., up to December 12, Binance would charge no fee for ETH mining. That means users can connect their Ethereum hash power to Binance Pool and earn rewards without sharing any commission with the exchange.
Binance’s Ethereum mining pool uses the full pay-per-share (FPPS) method for reward payouts, similar to its Bitcoin mining pool. This method distributes block rewards, as well as transaction fees to miners.
It remains to be seen whether Binance’s Ethereum mining pool gains similar traction as its Bitcoin mining pool, especially when Ethereum is set to move from a proof-of-work mining system to a proof-of-stake system in the near future. Binance’s Bitcoin mining pool had about 7% of the network’s hashrate in October, according to tracker BTC.com.
