Foundry Digital
Foundry runs the largest Bitcoin mining pool, part of Digital Currency Group.
The call
Foundry still leads Bitcoin pool hashrate, but its share is sliding weekly and its parent's fraud case keeps grinding through court.
Foundry runs the biggest Bitcoin mining pool, which means it collects transaction fees from miners who use its service to combine computing power and share rewards fairly. The problem is that any other company can start a mining pool because there is no secret ingredient or locked-in advantage, miners can switch pools easily, and some of Foundry's own customers (like Marathon) are now running competing pools. The new Stratum V2 protocol is designed to let miners have more control over their own mining decisions instead of relying on pools like Foundry, which could shrink the entire pool business. What matters most is whether Foundry can keep its miners as competitors poach them week by week, and whether the parent company DCG can stay focused while fighting a fraud lawsuit that could drain money and attention through 2027.
Why
01
AI pressure: None apparent. No AI product targets pool operation directly; AI data centers do compete with miners for power and chips indirectly. Could AI do the core job? Unlikely.
02
Bigger players: AntPool (Bitmain) and Marathon's MARA Pool. AntPool and F2Pool pull hashrate weekly, and customers like Marathon and Hive now run their own pools instead of Foundry's. Could a giant copy it? Yes, easily.
03
What protects it. Compliance-grade reporting, OptiFleet tooling, and institutional trust keep large miners on Foundry despite thin fees.
What would change this call
Foundry's weekly hashrate share falls below 25% or 20%. Would show F2Pool/AntPool are durably taking share, not just churn.
DCG litigation rulings through late 2026/2027 (fraud claim already revived). Would show whether parent-company legal risk is draining Foundry's resources.
Foundry ships Stratum V2 in production versus OCEAN/Braiins already live. Would show whether Foundry keeps control over block templates or cedes it to rivals.
DCG litigation rulings through late 2026/2027 (fraud claim already revived). Would show whether parent-company legal risk is draining Foundry's resources.
Foundry ships Stratum V2 in production versus OCEAN/Braiins already live. Would show whether Foundry keeps control over block templates or cedes it to rivals.
Key numbers
- Hashrate share fell from ~31% to ~25-27.6%
- FPPS pool fee sits at commodity ~2.62%
- NY fraud claim against DCG and Silbert revived
Named risks
- DCG securities fraud litigation could worsen, straining parent capital and Foundry resourcing.
- Hashrate share continues sliding toward AntPool and F2Pool, eroding leader position.
- Customers like Marathon and Hive vertically integrate into competing pools, shrinking Foundry's client base.
- Stratum V2 adoption led by rivals (OCEAN, Braiins) could shift template control away from Foundry.
- Regulatory scrutiny of pool concentration (>70% among 4 pools) could trigger intervention.
Rivals, as read in July 2026
| Rival | Direction | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| AntPool (Bitmain) | gaining on | AntPool at ~17-19% share vs Foundry's slide to 25-27.6% by mid-July 2026 |
| F2Pool | gaining on | F2Pool rose to second place at 17.8% in July 17 2026 rolling window |
| MARA Pool (Marathon Digital) | contesting | Foundry customer Marathon built its own in-house MARA Pool, reported Sept 2025 |
| ViaBTC | losing to | ViaBTC faces KYC friction in CIS markets, keeping it out of US institutional lane as of July 2026 |
| OCEAN / Braiins Pool | gaining on | Both ahead of Foundry deploying Stratum V2 as of July 2026; Foundry joined working group May 2026 but not shipped |
Questions people ask
- Is Foundry Digital still the biggest Bitcoin mining pool in 2026?
- Yes, Foundry USA Pool remained the largest single Bitcoin mining pool as of July 2026, though its share slid from about 31% in late June 2026 to roughly 25-27.6% by mid-July 2026 as F2Pool and AntPool gained ground.
- Who owns Foundry Digital?
- Foundry Digital is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Digital Currency Group (DCG), the Stamford, Connecticut crypto holding company founded by Barry Silbert in 2015. No independent equity rounds for Foundry itself have been publicly reported as of 2026.
- Did Foundry Digital have layoffs?
- Yes, Foundry cut headcount by about 27% in December 2024, from roughly 274 to 200 employees, though DCG said the true US reduction was 16%. Headcount estimates in 2026 remain in the 148-200 range.
- Could AI replace Foundry Digital's mining pool business?
- Unlikely to fully replace it. Foundry's pool operations rely on blockchain protocol trust and institutional compliance relationships, not just data processing, though its OptiFleet fleet-monitoring software could face AI-driven commoditization over time.
- Is Foundry Digital's parent company DCG in legal trouble?
- Yes, DCG and CEO Barry Silbert face active securities-fraud litigation tied to the Genesis Global Capital collapse. A motion to dismiss was denied in February 2026, and a New York fraud claim was revived in July 2026.
- Who are Foundry Digital's biggest competitors?
- AntPool (Bitmain-backed, ~17-19% hashrate), F2Pool (~10-18%), ViaBTC (~9-13%), and SpiderPool (~5.7-10%) as of mid-2026. Customers like Marathon Digital are also building competing in-house pools (MARA Pool).
Timeline
- 2026-07-20Four pools including Foundry control over 70% of Bitcoin hashrate, per report
- 2026-07-11Foundry hashrate share measured at 27.6%, still ranked number one pool
- 2026-07-07NY common-law fraud claim against DCG and Barry Silbert revived in court
- 2026-05-07Foundry joined Stratum V2 Working Group with AntPool, F2Pool, MARA Pool
- 2026-04-13Foundry launched institutional Zcash mining pool, captured about one third of new ZEC production
- 2026-02-25Federal judge denied DCG motion to dismiss crypto class action fraud suit
- 2025-09-09Reports of Foundry layoffs as Marathon and Hive expand in-house mining
- 2025-01-29DCG spun out Foundry's self-mining unit into new subsidiary Fortitude Mining
- 2025-01-01Foundry handed off logistics operations to Compass Logistics and Marine
- 2024-12-04Foundry confirmed layoffs, cutting headcount from about 274 to 200
Revision history
21 July 2026
First assessed. Losing its protection. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.
In the same band
Sources
- Four Pools Control 70% of Bitcoin Hashrate (2026-07-20)
- DCG Launches Fortitude Mining, A New Venture Mining Subsidiary (2025-01-29)
- DCG spins out new 'self-mining' subsidiary, Fortitude Mining (2025-01-30)
- Foundry Confirms Layoff Reports (2024-12-04)
- Bitcoin Mining Pools in 2026: Hashrate Consolidation (2026-07-15)
- Foundry to Launch Institutional-Grade Zcash Mining Pool in April 2026 (2026-03-16)
- Foundry lays off staff as Marathon, Hive expand (2025-09-09)
- Judge revives fraud claim against DCG and Silbert (2026-07-07)
- Federal Judge Allows Crypto Class Action Against DCG to Proceed (2026-02-25)
- Foundry Digital Company Profile
- Bitcoin Mining Site Operations (2025-05-05)
- Bitcoin Mining Site Operations (2025-02-28)