Bitcoin miners are increasingly turning to Fractal Bitcoin, a sidechain that leverages merged mining to generate additional revenue alongside Bitcoin’s block subsidy. According to the latest on-chain data, the Fractal Bitcoin network is currently utilizing approximately 226.19 EH/s of Bitcoin’s hashrate through merged mining, supplemented by an additional 18.1 EH/s from permissionless mining operations.
Mining Pool Contributions and Network Activity
Since its launch, over 40,354 blocks have been mined on Fractal Bitcoin, with roughly 2,068,925 FB tokens in circulation. At press time, each FB trades at $12.91, giving the project a market capitalization of $26.8 million — ranking 674th among all crypto assets. Just last week, on September 15, 2024, FB hit an all-time high of $38.80 before plunging more than 61% six days later.
The merged mining hashrate comes from a diverse set of contributors. Unknown miners account for 103.4 EH/s, while mining pool giant Antpool dedicates 82.34 EH/s of its 170.74 EH/s Bitcoin capacity to Fractal Bitcoin. F2pool and Spiderpool contribute 25.48 EH/s and 7.72 EH/s, respectively. Permissionless mining pools supporting the network include F2pool, Spiderpool, Maxipool, Moonx, Solo Fractal, and Fairpool.
Token Concentration and Miner Rewards
Despite the growing adoption, token distribution remains highly concentrated. The top five wallets hold 32.3% of the circulating supply, with the largest single address controlling 15.7% (approximately 668,631.54 FB). Each block currently yields between 32 and 34.5 FB, worth nearly $495 at current prices. Major mining pools have accumulated significant FB balances: one F2pool address holds 30,128.73 FB ($388K), while an Antpool coinbase reward address contains 22,922.6 FB ($335K). This translates to over $500,000 in extra revenue for participating miners in less than two weeks — a meaningful boost during a period of compressed Bitcoin mining margins.
Market Implications and Risks
While the additional income from Fractal Bitcoin offers miners a lifeline, the sharp price decline and low liquidity raise concerns. FB’s fully diluted valuation at current prices would reach $1.3 billion (based on a max supply of 200 million FB). Over the past 24 hours, global trading volume for FB stood at just $18.79 million — a mere 0.035% of the total crypto market volume of $53.35 billion. The high concentration of tokens among a few wallets also poses governance and market manipulation risks. As miners continue to chase extra yields, the sustainability of Fractal Bitcoin’s economic model will depend on broader adoption and balanced distribution.