Bitcoin mining is looking less like a wide-open competition and more like a tight club. A CryptoSlate partner article published on 07/08/2026, citing miningpoolstats.stream data as of 06/23/2026, says Foundry Digital, AntPool, ViaBTC, and F2Pool together account for more than 70% of the network’s hashrate. The shift is fueling what the coverage calls a “two-tier market,” with the biggest pools increasingly tuned for institutional clients while independents and mid-size operators get squeezed. Some smaller miners are already quietly reconsidering where they point their machines, especially as ViaBTC faces added regulatory scrutiny in 2026.
Bitcoin mining is often talked about like a wide-open frontier, but mid-2026 looks more like a handful of toll roads. A July 8, 2026 CryptoSlate article (partner content) points to a June 23, 2026 snapshot showing just a few pools taking an outsized role in where blocks get made, and what kind of miners get served best.
The rise of four dominant players in Bitcoin mining
As of that June 23 snapshot, four pools controlled more than 70% of Bitcoin’s hashrate: Foundry Digital, AntPool, ViaBTC, and F2Pool. The estimated split was stark: Foundry at 31%, AntPool at 18%, ViaBTC at 13%, and F2Pool at 10%, per 31%, 18%, 13%, 10% figures cited in the coverage.
One detail that matters for US operators is that Foundry is US-based and backed by Digital Currency Group. The pool is described as being built primarily for large-scale, institutional operators and publicly traded mining companies, with strict KYC requirements baked into how it onboards clients.
A two-tier market takes shape
CryptoSlate frames the concentration as a “two-tier market,” where the biggest pools increasingly optimize for institutional miners. That kind of optimization is usually invisible until you are the one fighting for responsiveness, predictable payouts, or account support, and it is why independent and mid-size miners are described as quietly rethinking where they point their machines.
The key shift is less about any single pool’s branding and more about what scale buys you. When a pool’s business is tuned for fleets and compliance-heavy customers, smaller miners can end up feeling like edge cases instead of the core product.
Scrutiny, switching costs, and the search for alternatives
ViaBTC, which held 13% in the mid-2026 share estimates, has faced increasing regulatory scrutiny this year that has particularly affected miners tied to Russia and other CIS countries. The reporting describes account restrictions, sudden KYC demands, and temporary fund freezes, the kind of friction that can make even loyal miners reconsider their setup.
In the same coverage, EMCD is positioned as an alternative: it claims over 30 EH/s of hashrate, with fees starting at 1.5% under FPPS, compared with roughly 4% charged by many comparable pools. EMCD was founded in 2017 and made its first pool available in February 2018.
What centralization looks like in the metrics
In D-Central’s H1 2026 snapshot (data as of June 19, 2026), Bitcoin mining pools had a Nakamoto coefficient of 3, meaning only 3 pools were needed to exceed half of all blocks mined, with Foundry USA at roughly 27% of blocks, per Nakamoto coefficient data.
And the leaderboard keeps moving. In the latest 7-day window posted on July 16, 2026, Simple Mining’s rankings list Foundry USA at 27.0%, with F2Pool and AntPool both at 17.2%, ViaBTC at 9.5%, and SpiderPool at 5.5%.
