Key Takeaways
- OCEAN misrouted miners to the BIP-110 chain for 18 hours due to a Stratum configuration flaw.
- Developer Peter Todd slammed default pool setups as OCEAN lost hashpower during the split.
- OCEAN restored its mainnet default and will issue 0.3 BTC in miner rebates within 72 hours.
Reimbursing Affected Miners
Bitcoin mining pool OCEAN said it will reimburse miners after a configuration issue caused some operators to unknowingly mine on the BIP-110 chain despite selecting the non-BIP-110 option. The clarification follows a wave of community scrutiny, including allegations that default pool settings steered unassigned DATUM hashpower toward the stalled minority chain.
OCEAN confirmed that for roughly 18 hours, miners using its Stratum templates who believed their hashrate was directed to the non-BIP-110 chain were actually contributing to the BIP-110 side of the split.
To ensure no miner is disadvantaged, OCEAN said it will issue direct bitcoin rebate payments based on rewards miners would have earned on the non-BIP-110 chain during that period.
“Approximately 0.3 BTC will be distributed, with payments completed within the next 72 hours. We’ll publish the transaction details once the payments are sent,” OCEAN said in an update.
The pool added that its default endpoint has been restored to the non-BIP-110 chain, though both mining options remain available, allowing operators to explicitly choose where to direct their hashpower.
The incident comes amid broader debate over how mining pools handle default configurations during contentious network splits. As reported by Bitcoin.com News, the Bitcoin blockchain fractured into two chains on Aug. 8: one enforcing the BIP-110 proposal and the original mainnet. The split capped weeks of heated debate between BIP-110 proponents, including Bitcoin developer Luke Dashjr, and critics such as Strategy Executive Chairman Michael Saylor.
While many pools adopted a wait-and-see approach, OCEAN took a bold step by adding two new Stratum endpoints bip110.mine.ocean.xyz port 3110 and http://no-signal.mine.ocean.xyz port 3000 on July 8. At the time, OCEAN framed additions as an option to signal for miners who are unable to use DATUM or who need a failover.
Following the split, critics like Bitcoin developer Peter Todd alleged that OCEAN’s default DATUM settings automatically routed unassigned hashpower toward the BIP-110 minority chain. Critics argued that this behavior had unintentionally amplified minority-chain activity, especially when miners relied on default templates rather than explicitly selecting a chain.
However, the pool appeared to respond to the criticism when it announced that the default OCEAN stratum endpoint would return to the non-BIP110 chain and that miners on the default endpoint did not need to take any action. At the time, OCEAN added that both websites would remain live to allow clients to choose where their hashrate goes.
