Parasite Mining Pool Finds Its Second Bitcoin Block, Validating Hybrid Model

A revolutionary bitcoin mining pool, Parasite Pool, has achieved its second block, demonstrating the effectiveness of its innovative design. This upstart pool, which launched in April 2025, has now mined block 945,601, roughly 48 days after its first block at #938,713 in late February, carrying 7,398 transactions and 0.002 BTC in fees. The pool operates on a distinctive hybrid model, where the winning miner receives 1 BTC outright, and the remaining 2.125 BTC plus fees are distributed proportionally among all participants based on shares submitted since the previous block. Notably, there are no fees to participate in this pool, and payouts are routed through the Lightning Network. By rejecting both the industrial pay-per-share model and the pure lottery approach, Parasite Pool offers an alternative, aiming to provide a more equitable distribution of rewards. The pool's founder, ZK Shark, the pseudonymous creator of Ordinal Maxi Biz, an NFT collection on Bitcoin, targets home miners with this approach. Unlike pure solo pools, which pay the full block reward minus a fee to the finder, Parasite's model splits the difference, preserving the lottery payday while keeping satoshis flowing to participants between blocks. With a current hashrate of 52 petahashes per second, down from a peak of 182 PH/s in June 2025, Parasite's model has now been validated twice, retaining hashrate through the 48-day gap between payouts. As the pattern around solo and small-pool mining continues to gain attention, Parasite's hybrid approach may provide a viable alternative for miners seeking a more stable and rewarding experience.