The Modern Mining Landscape
The mining market in 2025 is radically different from what we saw just a few years ago. After another halving, which reduced the block reward, and the constant increase in network complexity, every percentage point of efficiency is worth its weight in gold. Therefore, the days when you could simply connect your equipment to any pool and immediately start making a profit are now a thing of the past.
A modern miner is a prudent investor who carefully calculates electricity costs, evaluates the energy efficiency of ASIC devices, and relies on the smooth operation of the selected mining pool. As a result, the battle is not for megahashes, but for fractions of a percent of profitability, which over time can turn into thousands of dollars of difference.
Therefore, in a world where every terahash counts, choosing the right pool today determines your profits for the coming months. The wrong choice can cost up to 10-15% of potential income due to hidden fees, unstable payments, or an inefficient reward system. To understand who offers the best conditions for miners in 2025 and truly leads in terms of real profit, I decided to analyze the key indicators of the four leading pools on the market.
Hashprice and Infrastructure: The True Measure of Profitability
After halving, when the reward for creating a block decreased, miners began to pay attention not only to basic commissions, but also to a new, more complex source of income — MEV or Maximal Extractable Value. That is, the additional profit that miners and pools can earn by strategically including, excluding, or regrouping transactions in a block. In fact, this is a strategy of staying ahead in the world of DeFi, arbitrage, and liquidations, the income from which can significantly exceed standard fees.
This is where the key differences between pools come into play. How exactly does a pool manage MEV? Does it share this profit with miners, or does it keep most of it for itself? As a rule, pools that use modern MEV strategies and transparently distribute profits (often through FPPS — Full Pay Per Share) provide participants with a consistently higher hash price.
Understanding Mining Pool Reward Systems
- •PPLNS (Pay Per Last N Shares) — payments depend on the pool's “luck.” On a good day, miners can earn more, but the income is less predictable.
- •FPPS (Full Pay Per Share) — the pool pays rewards for both found blocks and transaction fees. These guarantees stable and predictable income, regardless of “lucky” days, making this option ideal for financial planning.
Key Factors Beyond Basic Fees
- •Real fees - The 1-4% mentioned are only part of the picture. Connection stability, ping loss, and hash rate accuracy are also important. Sometimes a pool with a 2% fee yields more than a pool with a 1% fee due to more efficient infrastructure.
- •Hashprice (price per 1 TH/s) is the most honest indicator of profitability. It shows how much profit you actually earn per terahash of equipment per day. This is the indicator I used for comparative analysis of pools.
Comparative Analysis: Same Machines, Different Pools
For the analysis, I took payment statistics for three months — from August 1 to October 28, 2025 — and calculated the average hashprice for the four leading pools: AntPool, F2Pool, ViaBTC, and WhitePool. To ensure maximum accuracy of the results, ASIC miners of the same model were connected to each pool.
During the experiment, I collected detailed data on payments, including commissions, and then calculated the net daily reward. The final hashprice for each pool was determined as the ratio of net income to hashrate for the same day. Then, the average value for the entire 90-day period was obtained from these indicators. This approach made it possible to objectively compare the efficiency of the pools and determine which one provides miners with the highest income under stable conditions.
Interestingly, against the backdrop of industry giants, WhitePool, which had long remained in the shadows, showed significant results in 2025. According to my estimates, this pool provided one of the highest average hashprice on the market. So, in the following summary table, I have clearly shown the difference between WhitePool and its competitors in percentage terms.
Conclusion: Strategic Partnerships in Mining
Mining has evolved from fierce competition to a carefully thought-out financial strategy. And while names like AntPool and F2Pool still dominate the industry, 2025 shows that miners are starting to look deeper — not just at the brand, but at the numbers that really matter. After all, in this market, the smartest move is not to add new ASICs, but to choose the right partner so that every terahash counts.