<blockquote>
<p>biggest mining pools which significantly decreases decentralization</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Not at all. Pools contribute to decentralization. Without pools, small miners would never be able to mine feasibly, because they would never find a block. No matter how much time they spent mining, no block = no reward. Pools allow them a fair share of block rewards proportional to their work.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Would it be theoretically possible to create a proof of work algorithm that distributes the block reward to miners relative to how many shares they have submitted</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It's called <a href="http://p2pool.in/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">P2Pool</a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-22T07:52:48.400Z
2021-05-22T07:52:48.400Z
MCCCS
<p>Most proof of work cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, have most of their hashrate controlled by the biggest mining pools which significantly decreases decentralization. Would it be theoretically possible to create a proof of work algorithm that distributes the block reward to miners relative to how many shares they have submitted? Basically make it so that the algorithm itself is a decentralized mining pool.</p>

<mining-pools><proof-of-work>
Is a proof of work consensus mechanism that discourages mining in pools possible?
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# Is a proof of work consensus mechanism that discourages mining in pools possible?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-05-22)

Most proof of work cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, have most of their hashrate controlled by the biggest mining pools which significantly decreases decentralization. Would it be theoretically possible to create a proof of work algorithm that distributes the block reward to miners relative to how many shares they have submitted? Basically make it so that the algorithm itself is a decentralized mining pool.

**Tags:** mining-pools, proof-of-work


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2021-05-22. Score: 1

> biggest mining pools which significantly decreases decentralization

Not at all. Pools contribute to decentralization. Without pools, small miners would never be able to mine feasibly, because they would never find a block. No matter how much time they spent mining, no block = no reward. Pools allow them a fair share of block rewards proportional to their work.

> Would it be theoretically possible to create a proof of work algorithm that distributes the block reward to miners relative to how many shares they have submitted

It's called [P2Pool](http://p2pool.in/)


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