❓ FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

PyBLOCK is a non-custodial Bitcoin mining pool built by cypherpunks, for cypherpunks. We offer two mining options:

• PYBLOCK-LOTTO (port 4444): True solo mining. Winner takes all minus 0.4% fee. High variance, high reward.
• DATUM-POOLED (port 23334): Pooled mining via Ocean.xyz gateway. Lower variance, steady payouts based on hashrate contribution.

No KYC. No registration. No accounts. Just point your miner to our stratum URL with your Bitcoin address. That's it.

NO.

This is a cypherpunk pool. Just point your miner to our stratum URL with your Bitcoin address as the username. We don't store personal data, we don't require emails, and we don't give a fuck about KYC.

Your Bitcoin address IS your account. All mining stats are tied to your address, and payouts go directly to that address.

Choose based on your risk tolerance and hashrate:

🎰 PYBLOCK-LOTTO (port 4444)

• Best for: Solo miners, lottery-style mining, high risk tolerance
• Payout: Winner takes entire block reward (minus 0.4% fee)
• Variance: EXTREME - You either hit the jackpot or get nothing
• Fee: 0.4% only when you find a block
• Time to block: Could be days, months, or years depending on your hashrate

🌊 DATUM-POOLED (port 23334)

• Best for: Small miners, steady income, lower variance
• Payout: Proportional to your hashrate contribution (Ocean.xyz TIDES system)
• Variance: LOW - Steady small payouts
• Fee: 1% Ocean.xyz fee (PyBLOCK takes no additional cut)
• Time to payout: Regular payouts based on threshold

Any SHA-256 ASIC miner works with PyBLOCK Pool:

• Antminer: S9, S17, S19, S21 series
• Whatsminer: M20, M30, M50, M60 series
• Avalon: All models
• BitAxe: Solo mining lottery device
• Any other SHA-256 ASIC

❌ GPU and CPU mining won't work. Bitcoin mining requires specialized ASIC hardware.

Stratum URL:

stratum+tcp://pool.pyblock.xyz:4444

Configuration:

1. URL: stratum+tcp://pool.pyblock.xyz:4444
2. Username: Your Bitcoin address (any format: Legacy, SegWit, Taproot)
3. Password: Anything (we don't check passwords)
4. Worker name (optional): Add .workername to your address

Example:

Username: bc1qYOURADDRESS.s19pro01
Password: x

Stratum URL:

stratum+tcp://pool.pyblock.xyz:23334

Configuration:

1. URL: stratum+tcp://pool.pyblock.xyz:23334
2. Username: Your Bitcoin address
3. Password: Anything

This pool connects to Ocean.xyz, so your stats will appear on both our DATUM page and the Ocean.xyz website.

All Bitcoin address formats are supported:

• Legacy (P2PKH): Starts with 1 (e.g., 1A1zP1eP5QGefi2DMPTfTL5SLmv7DivfNa)
• SegWit (P2SH): Starts with 3
• Native SegWit (Bech32): Starts with bc1q (recommended)
• Taproot (Bech32m): Starts with bc1p

⚠️ Important: Use an address you control, NOT an exchange address. Exchanges may not credit solo mining payouts correctly.

Yes! Add a worker name by appending .workername to your Bitcoin address.

Examples:

• bc1qYOURADDRESS.s19pro01
• bc1qYOURADDRESS.bitaxe-garage
• bc1qYOURADDRESS.basement-rig

All workers using the same Bitcoin address will be grouped together in your stats. Worker names help you identify which physical miner is which.

For LOTTO:

1. Go to the LOTTO page
2. Search for your Bitcoin address
3. You should see your workers and hashrate within 5 minutes

For DATUM:

1. Go to the DATUM page
2. Search for your Bitcoin address via Ocean CSV
3. Or visit ocean.xyz directly

✅ What you should see:

• Your workers listed with names
• Hashrate values (may take 5-10 minutes to stabilize)
• Last share timestamp (should update regularly)

PYBLOCK-LOTTO is true solo mining. The miner who finds the block receives the entire block reward minus PyBLOCK's 0.4% pool fee.

Current block reward: 3.125 BTC (after 2024 halving)

Winner receives: ~3.1125 BTC (99.6% of reward)

Payment: Sent directly to your Bitcoin address in the coinbase transaction of the block you found.

⚠️ High variance: You could find a block tomorrow, or it could take years depending on your hashrate. This is gambling with proof-of-work.

DATUM-POOLED payouts are handled by Ocean.xyz using their TIDES (Transparent Index of Distinct Extended Shares) system.

How it works:

• You earn proportional to your hashrate contribution
• Payments sent when you reach minimum payout threshold
• Lightning Network payouts available for instant withdrawals
• On-chain Bitcoin payouts for larger amounts

For detailed payout settings, thresholds, and history, visit your dashboard on ocean.xyz.

PYBLOCK-LOTTO:

• 0.4% pool fee (only charged when you find a block)
• Block finder receives 99.6% of the block reward
• No ongoing fees, no subscription

DATUM-POOLED:

• PyBLOCK takes no fees (we're just a gateway)
• Ocean.xyz charges 1% pool fee
• Ocean fees may vary based on payout method

💡 Transparency: All fees are deducted from the block reward before payout. What you see in your wallet is what you get. No hidden fees, no surprises.

Use our Mining Calculator to estimate:

• Time to find a block (solo mining)
• Expected daily/weekly/monthly earnings (pooled mining)
• Impact of network difficulty changes
• Profitability based on electricity costs

⚠️ Remember: These are statistical estimates. Actual results vary based on luck, network difficulty changes, and Bitcoin price volatility.

Hashrate is calculated over different time windows:

• 1m hashrate: Average over last 1 minute (most volatile, shows current performance)
• 5m hashrate: Average over 5 minutes (more stable)
• 1hr hashrate: Average over 1 hour (good indicator of consistent performance)
• 1d (24h) hashrate: Average over 24 hours (most reliable metric)
• 7d hashrate: Average over 7 days (shows long-term stability)

💡 Use 24h hashrate for the most accurate representation of your mining operation. Short-term values fluctuate due to variance in share submissions.

A share is a valid proof-of-work submission to the pool. Think of it as a lottery ticket.

How it works:

• Your miner attempts to solve blocks
• Most solutions don't meet Bitcoin's difficulty (too easy)
• These easier solutions are "shares" submitted to the pool
• Shares prove you're actually mining
• One lucky share will eventually meet Bitcoin's full difficulty = block found!

Best Share: The highest difficulty share you've ever submitted. The closer to network difficulty, the closer you were to finding a block!

Your miner reports its theoretical hashrate based on hardware specs. The pool calculates your effective hashrate based on submitted shares.

Why they differ:

• Variance: Share submission is probabilistic (like dice rolls)
• Network latency: Delays between miner and pool
• Rejected shares: Invalid submissions don't count
• Calculation window: Shorter time windows show more variance

Over 24+ hours, your pool hashrate should match your miner's hashrate within 5-10%. If consistently lower, check for hardware issues or network problems.

Network difficulty determines how hard it is to find a valid Bitcoin block. Bitcoin adjusts difficulty every 2016 blocks (~2 weeks) to maintain 10-minute average block times.

How it affects you:

• Difficulty increases: Harder to find blocks, lower expected earnings
• Difficulty decreases: Easier to find blocks, higher expected earnings
• Your hashrate stays the same, but your chances change

As more miners join the network, difficulty increases. As miners leave, difficulty decreases. This keeps block times consistent despite changing global hashrate.

Yes! We provide a public REST API for developers to integrate PyBLOCK stats into their apps.

Available endpoints:

• Pool statistics (hashrate, workers, blocks)
• Individual miner stats (by address)
• Leaderboard rankings
• Block template data
• Network statistics

Check these common issues:

• Stratum URL spelling: Must be exactly stratum+tcp://pool.pyblock.xyz:4444 or stratum+tcp://pool.pyblock.xyz:23334
• Port number: 4444 for LOTTO, 23334 for DATUM
• Firewall: Ensure outbound connections on those ports aren't blocked
• Network connectivity: Try ping pool.pyblock.xyz to verify DNS resolution
• Miner logs: Check your miner's log file for specific error messages

Wait at least 5 minutes after connecting. Stats need time to populate.

If still not showing after 10+ minutes:

• Verify your Bitcoin address is valid (check for typos)
• Ensure your miner shows "ACCEPTED" shares in its logs
• Check that you're connected to the correct pool (LOTTO vs DATUM)
• Try refreshing the page (stats update every 30-60 seconds)
• Search for your exact address (copy-paste to avoid typos)

High reject rates (>3-5%) indicate a problem. Common causes:

• Network latency: High ping to pool server (try ping pool.pyblock.xyz)
• Miner hardware issues: Overclocking, heat, power instability
• Firmware bugs: Try updating miner firmware
• Stale shares: Mining on old work (network/latency issue)

Normal reject rate: 1-2% is acceptable due to network variance. Anything over 5% needs investigation.

Common mistakes:

• Exchange addresses: Don't use Coinbase, Binance, etc. addresses (they won't credit solo mining payouts)
• Typos: Double-check every character of your address
• Wrong cryptocurrency: Must be a Bitcoin address, not Ethereum/Litecoin/etc.
• Truncated address: Make sure you copied the entire address

✅ Use an address you control: Hardware wallet, software wallet, or your own node. Never use an exchange address for mining.

Join our community for help:

When asking for help, please include:

• Your Bitcoin address (first 10 characters)
• Which pool (LOTTO or DATUM)
• Miner model and firmware version
• Error messages from miner logs