Stratum V2 Adoption Spurred by DMND's Live Block Production

The Stratum V2 protocol has reached a significant milestone in its adoption. Bitcoin mining pool DMND mined block 955,318, marking the first known case of a Stratum V2 block being produced. This achievement is notable because it demonstrates live production deployment and could accelerate broader adoption among large miners.

The dominant model in Bitcoin mining today involves pools deciding which transactions go into each block, with miners having no say in that selection. However, Stratum V2 changes this arrangement by allowing miners to retain their participation in pooled mining while taking back the right to construct the block template themselves.

DMND's production deployment shows that the protocol can function in a live environment, which removes one barrier to broader adoption. The company DMND is built for the Stratum V2 era and has its Job Declaration feature running in production. GoMining used this mechanism to include transactions from GoBTC Pay, an open-source non-custodial Bitcoin instant payments protocol.

This development extends beyond a single block. If Stratum V2 adoption grows, miners, not pools, will become the decision-makers on what enters the blockchain. This could lead to improved censorship resistance and power distribution over the network's transaction layer.