Tether Partners with OCEAN Mining Pool to Boost Bitcoin Decentralization Efforts

On April 14, 2025, Tether, the world's largest stablecoin issuer, announced a strategic partnership with OCEAN to deploy its current and future Bitcoin hash rate across facilities in Uruguay, Paraguay, El Salvador, and other emerging markets. This move aligns with Tether's ambition since its $500 million investment into Bitcoin mining in 2023, aiming to support decentralized mining pools and reduce Bitcoin network reliance on a few large pools. Founded in 2023 by Bitcoin core developer Luke Dashjr, OCEAN is a leading Bitcoin mining pool headquartered in El Salvador and features the innovative DATUM protocol, which allows miners to independently construct block templates—a crucial step against mining centralization.

OCEAN's core advantage lies in its decentralized architecture. Unlike traditional pools controlled by centralized entities, OCEAN uses DATUM (Decentralized Alternative Template Protocol) to empower miners with template construction. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino stated, "Deploying hashrate to OCEAN aligns with both our mining investments and our broader mission to fortify Bitcoin against centralizing forces." DATUM's low-latency performance enables efficient mining operations in bandwidth-constrained regions, such as rural Africa, which is vital for Tether's mining expansion in Latin America and Africa.

OCEAN's headquarters in El Salvador benefits from the country's Bitcoin-friendly policies. In May 2024, OCEAN relocated its headquarters to leverage local low-cost renewable energy sources, such as geothermal and hydroelectric power, for mining activities. Tether's official statement revealed plans to globally promote OCEAN's DATUM Gateway software, especially at its mining sites in Latin America and Africa. These sites, integrated through the Tether Energy project, ensure sustainable and geographically diverse hash rate deployment. Tether's facilities in Uruguay primarily rely on wind and solar power, Paraguay on hydroelectricity, and El Salvador combines geothermal energy.

Since its launch in November 2023, OCEAN has attracted attention with its non-custodial model and transparent reward mechanism. Unlike traditional pools, OCEAN does not hold miners' rewards but directly distributes block rewards to miners' Bitcoin addresses. The unique TIDES (Transparent Index Distributed Extensible Shares) payment system ensures miners receive precise rewards based on hash rate contribution, avoiding biases found in traditional PPLNS or FPPS mechanisms. According to Mempool.space, OCEAN currently accounts for less than 1% of Bitcoin network hash rate, with approximately 18.2 EH/s over the past 24 hours. Despite the gap with giants like AntPool (over 150 EH/s), its decentralization philosophy has gained support from industry leaders like Jack Dorsey.

Luke Dashjr, founder of OCEAN, is a veteran in the Bitcoin community, having created the early mining pool Eligius in 2011. His Bitcoin Knots node software is known for enhanced features. However, Dashjr has sparked controversy by opposing "Ordinals" transactions on the Bitcoin network. In 2023, OCEAN attempted to exclude such transactions, drawing criticism from some community members, ultimately allowing miners to choose transaction types. Nevertheless, OCEAN's decentralized vision and open-source protocol make it an ideal partner for Tether.

Founded in 2014, Tether relocated its headquarters to El Salvador in January this year. Its USDT stablecoin is the most traded crypto asset globally, with a market cap of approximately $142.9 billion, capturing 68% of the stablecoin market according to Tokenterminal. Tether's diverse investment portfolio spans Bitcoin mining, artificial intelligence, traditional finance, and education. According to Tether's official report, as of December 2024, it holds $108.3 billion in U.S. Treasury bonds, making it one of the largest global buyers. In 2024, Tether achieved a net profit of $13.724 billion, partly due to its diversified strategy in U.S. Treasury bonds, gold, and Bitcoin.

OCEAN's DATUM Gateway supports thousands of mining machines simultaneously and maintains efficient connectivity even in environments with bandwidth as low as 100kbps. This means Tether's African sites, such as planned facilities in Nigeria and Kenya, can participate in mining without relying on high-cost infrastructure. Giv Zanganeh, VP of Mining & Energy at Tether, commented, "Its architecture allows us to achieve reliable connectivity even in low-bandwidth regions, expanding the reach and resilience of our infrastructure."

The Bitcoin mining market is currently dominated by a few pools. According to Mempool.space, Foundry USA, AntPool, ViaBTC, and F2Pool collectively control over 77.36% of block production. While Tether's involvement may boost OCEAN's hash rate, it is unlikely to disrupt the existing landscape in the short term.

From a pricing perspective, Bitcoin's price on April 14, 2025, was approximately $85,100, up about 113.55% from the low in 2024. USDT's trading volume continues to grow, with a 13% quarter-on-quarter increase in user numbers in the first quarter of 2025, reflecting strong demand for stablecoins.

Tether's partnership with OCEAN is seen as a strong endorsement of Bitcoin's decentralization ideals. Luke Dashjr stated, "Tether’s involvement is a strong signal that decentralization remains a core priority for Bitcoin’s future." However, the path to decentralized mining is not without challenges. Energy costs, hardware competition, and geopolitical risks remain industry pain points. Tether's investment in sustainable energy, such as renewable energy facilities in Latin America, may alleviate some pressure, but the execution of its African strategy remains to be seen.

Additionally, Tether's African education project offers a new perspective for the industry. By combining mining infrastructure with financial inclusion, Tether aims to establish long-term influence in emerging markets. This could not only drive global adoption of Bitcoin but also bring more community support to decentralized projects like OCEAN. In the future, OCEAN's hash rate share and its acceptance within the Bitcoin community will be key indicators of the success of this collaboration.