Mummolin, Inc., spearheaded by Block CEO Jack Dorsey, has successfully raised $6.2 million in a seed funding round to support OCEAN, a decentralized Bitcoin mining pool, and other mining decentralization initiatives. The funding round saw participation from Accomplice, Barefoot Bitcoin Fund, MoonKite, NewLayer Capital, and the Bitcoin Opportunity Fund.
OCEAN, revealed at the Future of Bitcoin Mining Conference, aims to empower miners with increased autonomy and decision-making authority in complex mining processes. Unlike traditional custodial pools, OCEAN operates as a non-custodial, transparent, and permissionless platform. Its goal is to eliminate intermediaries, enhancing the robustness of the Bitcoin network.
Luke Dashjr, the co-founder of Mummolin and a prominent Bitcoin Core developer, emphasized the necessity for mining pool transformation to ensure true decentralization of Bitcoin. OCEAN addresses this by enabling miners to receive block rewards directly from Bitcoin, fostering transparency and reducing reliance on centralized authorities.
Jack Dorsey expressed his support, noting the broader benefits OCEAN brings to Bitcoin. The platform introduces diversity to Bitcoin mining, countering the current dominance of centralized pools like AntPool and Foundry USA, which collectively control over 55% of the total Bitcoin hashrate.
OCEAN plans to implement further Bitcoin mining decentralization enhancements in 2024, contributing to the ongoing efforts to create a more decentralized and resilient Bitcoin ecosystem.