In a significant boost for crypto network security, Bitcoin layer 2 scaling project, Fractal Bitcoin, has dramatically enhanced its robustness by integrating one of the largest Bitcoin mining pools.
Fractal Bitcoin (FB), designed to scale the Bitcoin (BTC) network, recently announced a major security milestone. On April 24, the project successfully onboarded Foundry, a leading Bitcoin mining pool, which will now simultaneously mine FB alongside BTC.
Milestone unlocked: [@FoundryServices] is now merged mining Fractal via our innovative Cadence Mining.
✅ >719 EH/s now merged mining Fractal ✅ Better network security with 93% of Bitcoin’s hashrate merged mining it ✅ Support for miners without needing new hardware [Image illustrating merged mining announcement]
This integration pushes Fractal Bitcoin’s secured hashrate to an impressive 93% of the total Bitcoin network hashrate. Essentially, 93% of the computational power securing Bitcoin now also secures Fractal Bitcoin simultaneously. The project asserts this makes it the most secure Bitcoin-compatible network currently operating.
This development aligns with Fractal Bitcoin’s objective: harnessing Bitcoin’s formidable security while delivering the scalability required for sophisticated DeFi applications.
How Merged Mining Attracts Bitcoin Miners
Crypto miners often diversify their efforts across multiple blockchains like Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Dogecoin, allocating separate computational resources based on profitability factors such as token price and mining difficulty.
However, Fractal Bitcoin utilizes the same SHA-256 hashing algorithm as Bitcoin. This shared algorithm enables ‘merged mining,’ a technique allowing miners to secure both networks concurrently using the exact same computational power and energy.
This synergy presents a compelling proposition for Bitcoin miners. They can contribute to Fractal Bitcoin’s security and earn additional rewards with minimal extra operational cost. Fractal employs a ‘Cadence Mining’ model to distribute these rewards.
Under this model, block rewards are split: one-third goes to the established Bitcoin miners participating in merged mining. The remaining two-thirds are allocated to permissionless miners, potentially using different hardware, thereby broadening participation beyond those invested heavily in expensive BTC mining rigs.