Why 1%

I believe in the individual miner. That is where all of this starts and it is where my core will always remain. Solo mining — your machine, your block, your reward — is the purest expression of what Proof of Work was built to make possible. That conviction has not changed.

But I am also honest enough to acknowledge the math. As networks grow, difficulty climbs. The day will come for some of these coins — maybe sooner than we think — when a single home miner running alone will wait so long between blocks that solo mining becomes more an act of faith than a practical strategy. That is not a failure of the protocol. That is the protocol working exactly as designed, rewarding the network's collective security with collective difficulty.

When that day comes, I want there to be a place where the community can combine their hashrate, keep finding blocks together, and still receive their fair share of the reward — without surrendering their coins to a faceless mega-pool that sees them as nothing more than a hashrate statistic. That is what the PPLNS pool is for.

Why 1% and Not More

One percent is a number I chose deliberately and I want to be completely transparent about what it means. It is low enough that it should never feel like a deterrent — this is not a toll booth, it is a community resource. But it is not zero, because zero is not sustainable for infrastructure that requires a server, ongoing maintenance, and real time to keep running.

My honest hope is that 1% covers the cost of operating this pool and nothing more. If someday it generates a little beyond that, I will not pretend that helping fund my own mining journey wouldn't be welcome — but that is not why I built this. I built this because I believe more miners on these networks is better for everyone, and I want to make that as easy as possible.

How the PPLNS System Works

PPLNS stands for Pay Per Last N Shares — a payout method designed to reward consistent miners and discourage pool hopping. Here is exactly how this pool calculates and distributes rewards:

Parameter	Value & Explanation
Pool Fee	1% — deducted from every block reward before distribution
Share Window	8 hours — only shares submitted in the last 8 hours count toward your payout score
Full Credit Ramp	6 hours — it takes 6 hours of continuous mining to reach your maximum payout weight. This protects consistent miners.
Gap Tolerance	30 minutes — brief disconnections under 30 minutes carry no penalty to your score
Gap Reset	4+ hours offline resets your ramp. Rejoin and your weight rebuilds over the next 6 hours.
Payout Interval	Every 2 hours — automatic payouts fire on a timer directly to your wallet address
Payout Threshold	None — all earned rewards are paid regardless of amount
Block Maturity	100 confirmations required before a block reward is distributed
Stratum Port	TBA — will be announced when the pool opens to the community

In plain terms: mine consistently, earn a proportional share of every block the pool finds, and get paid automatically every two hours directly to your wallet. No account required. No withdrawal request. No middleman holding your coins.

The Bottom Line

My core will always be with the individual miner. The PPLNS pool exists to serve the community when the individual needs backup — when the math of solo mining tips beyond what one machine can practically overcome alone. One percent is what I ask to keep the lights on. Everything else goes back to the miners who earned it.

Your shares. Your rewards. Your coins. Just with a little help from each other.

— Built for the community, grounded in the individual, Scratcher Blackshirt Crypto