The 50 Most Interesting Companies In Bitcoin's History: 2/50
Slush Pool / Braiins
The Idea: The world's first Bitcoin mining pool. In November 2010, Palatinus solved the problem of unpredictable income for solo miners by creating a pool where miners could combine hashrate and share rewards. Originally called Bitcoin.cz Mining Pool.
Early Traction: Invented the concept of pooled mining, which became the standard for the entire industry to reduce block variability. Also developed the Stratum mining protocol used by virtually every pool.
Peak Stats: Mined over 1.3 million BTC since inception - more than 9% of all blocks ever produced.
Status Today: Active at scale as Braiins Pool. The company (Braiins) also develops mining firmware, management software for mining ops, and the Stratum V2 protocol. Palatinus went on to co-found SatoshiLabs/Trezor. The company Braiins was founded separately in 2011 by Jan Capek and Pavel Moravec; the pool was rebranded Braiins Pool in 2022.
Why It Matters:
Without pooled mining, Bitcoin mining would have remained viable only for those with enormous individual hashrate. Slush Pool democratized mining and created an entirely new business category.