由於 BTC 工作面額成為問題，比特幣 (BTC) 礦池考慮支付山寨幣

全球最大的比特幣 (BTC) 礦池營運商正在悄悄討論 BTC 支付問題。儘管開採 BTC、保護 BTC 並以 BTC 賺取 100% 的收入，但礦池營運商有時會發現貨幣本身對於支付自己的工人來說很麻煩。

Operators of the world’s largest bitcoin (BTC) mining pools are quietly discussing a problem with BTC payouts. Despite mining BTC, securing BTC, and earning 100% of their revenue in BTC, pool operators are occasionally finding the currency itself to be cumbersome for paying their own workers.

全球最大的比特幣 (BTC) 礦池營運商正在悄悄討論 BTC 支付問題。儘管開採 BTC、保護 BTC 並以 BTC 賺取 100% 的收入，但礦池營運商有時會發現貨幣本身對於支付自己的工人來說很麻煩。

Although all major BTC mining pools pay for work in BTC currently, a few are warming up to the idea of an altcoin as a superior payment method.

儘管目前所有主要的 BTC 礦池都以 BTC 支付工作費用，但也有一些礦池開始熱衷於將山寨幣作為一種更好的支付方式。

For months, developers and pool managers have engaged in deep discussions on technical forums like Delving Bitcoin around electronic cash (“ecash”) token alternatives to mining pool payouts. One of the discussion leaders, vnprc, has proposed a new form of eHash tokens that represent “liabilities” that can be “audited” using a so-called “Proof-of-Liabilities” protocol by Calle.

幾個月來，開發者和礦池管理者在《Delving Bitcoin》等技術論壇上圍繞著電子現金（「ecash」）代幣替代礦池支付進行了深入討論。討論的領導者之一 vnprc 提出了一種新形式的 eHash 代幣，它代表“負債”，可以使用 Calle 所謂的“負債證明”協議進行“審計”。

The irony of such a string of terms is apparent to any BTC maximalist: new token, new proof, and new protocol. BTC is supposed to be the preeminent peer-to-peer digital cash so why are developers busy inventing a new token to pay for pure BTC work?

對於任何 BTC 最大化主義者來說，這樣一串術語的諷刺意義都是顯而易見的：新代幣、新證明和新協議。 BTC 應該是卓越的點對點數位現金，那麼為什麼開發人員忙於發明一種新的代幣來支付純粹的 BTC 工作呢？

How bitcoin is burdening mining pool payouts

比特幣如何為礦池支出帶來負擔

Participating in a mining pool is normally not as simple as contributing work and receiving a percentage of the coinbase reward and transaction fees whenever your pool mines a block. (Bitcoin’s coinbase reward is currently 3.125 BTC per 10-minute block, or about $325,000.)

參與礦池通常並不像貢獻工作並在礦池開採一個區塊時獲得一定比例的 coinbase 獎勵和交易費用那麼簡單。 （比特幣的 coinbase 獎勵目前為每 10 分鐘區塊 3.125 BTC，約 325,000 美元。）

Unfortunately, pool operators face various idiosyncrasies with calculating miners’ level of computation, the pool’s costs since its last coinbase reward, and the inherent 10-minute transaction delays between Bitcoin blocks.

不幸的是，礦池運營商在計算礦工的計算水平、礦池自上次 Coinbase 獎勵以來的成本以及比特幣區塊之間固有的 10 分鐘交易延遲方面面臨著各種特殊情況。

Altogether, these factors complicate an immediate BTC payout to pool members. Consider the delays necessitated by pool payout structures like PPLNS to illustrate this frustration.

總而言之，這些因素使得向礦池成員立即支付 BTC 變得更加複雜。考慮一下 PPLNS 等礦池支付結構所需的延遲就可以說明這種挫折感。

Within some pool payout schemes like pay per last N shares (PPLNS), a member might need to wait days or weeks for the pool to find additional blocks prior to receiving their first payout. As the name suggests, pay only occurs for the last shares of work that actually earned money for the pool.

在某些礦池支付方案中，例如以最後 N 股支付 (PPLNS)，成員可能需要等待數天或數週才能讓礦池找到其他區塊，然後才能收到第一筆付款。顧名思義，報酬僅針對實際為池賺錢的最後一部分工作。

While the pool waits to win blocks, its miners must also patiently wait for their payouts.

當礦池等待贏得區塊時，礦工也必須耐心等待他們的支付。

Highly variable transaction fees also mean that affordable BTC payments might suddenly become unaffordable depending on the whims of the market, spikes in transaction fees, or hour of the day.

高度可變的交易費用也意味著，根據市場的變化、交易費用的飆升或一天中的時間，原本可以負擔的比特幣支付可能會突然變得難以負擔。

Worse, the BTC denomination of mining work — which fluctuates rapidly in USD price, unlike electricity — means that pools can occasionally allocate templated work to their members with a massive BTC change in USD value by the time the pool actually gets lucky enough to win its coinbase reward.

更糟的是，挖礦工作的BTC 計價——與電力不同，其美元價格波動很快——意味著礦池偶爾可以將模板工作分配給其成員，而當礦池真正有幸贏得其獎金時，美元價值的BTC 會發生巨大變化。

Work for generous tips, win small tips

工作中獲得豐厚的小費，贏得小額小費

The non-profit Bitcoin Optech illustrates this with an example of a pool that instructs its members to mine a template that would be worth 3.125 BTC coinbase plus a massive quantity of extra BTC worth of transaction fees.

非營利的 Bitcoin Optech 舉了一個礦池的例子來說明這一點，該礦池指示其成員挖掘一個價值 3.125 BTC 幣庫的模板，外加大量額外的 BTC 交易費用。

(Transaction fees are “tips” from BTC users to miners that incentivize inclusion of their transaction in the earliest block possible. It’s not unheard of for transaction fees to exceed 10X the value of the coinbase reward.)

（交易費用是 BTC 用戶給礦工的“小費”，旨在激勵他們的交易盡可能早地包含在區塊中。交易費用超過 coinbase 獎勵價值的 10 倍並非聞所未聞。）

Suppose that a member contributes substantial work on this template, expending energy and computation to hash 10% of that pool’s share of that block. That member might be hoping for 10% of that block’s, say, 30 or more BTC — a great payday.

假設某個成員在此模板上貢獻了大量工作，花費能量和計算來哈希該池在該區塊中所佔份額的 10%。該成員可能希望獲得該區塊的 10%，例如 30 或更多 BTC——這是一筆豐厚的發薪日。

Then, infuriatingly, another pool solves the mathematical puzzle for that same block and wins all of its coinbase and transaction fees. Suddenly, the member’s hoped-for 10% of 30 BTC is worth $0.

然後，令人憤怒的是，另一個礦池解決了同一個區塊的數學難題，並贏得了所有的幣庫和交易費用。突然間，該會員所希望的 30 BTC 中的 10% 價值為 0 美元。

Tragically, by the time that original member and its pool finally win their next block, transaction fees have cratered and the block they actually win is worth just four BTC — a far cry from 30.

可悲的是，當原始成員及其礦池最終贏得下一個區塊時，交易費用已經大幅下降，而他們實際贏得的區塊僅值 4 BTC——與 30 BTC 相差甚遠。

In this case, many pool operators honor the original work assignment based on the old template that was worth 30 BTC and compensate workers from corporate reserves. (Over time, pool operators smoothe out payouts in this manner to avoid losing their workforce to other, more well-capitalized competitors.)

在這種情況下，許多礦池營運商會根據舊模板履行原來的工作任務，價值 30 BTC，並從公司儲備中補償工人。 （隨著時間的推移，礦池營運商會以這種方式平滑支出，以避免將勞動力流失到其他資本更雄厚的競爭對手手中。）

However, this strategy is unsustainable in the long term if the pool operator assigns high-fee, BTC-denominated work that fluctuates too often to the downside by the time the pool actually wins its blocks.

然而，如果礦池營運商分配高額費用、以 BTC 計價的工作，而當礦池實際贏得區塊時，這些工作經常會出現下行波動，那麼從長遠來看，這種策略是不可持續的。

Working on ecash

致力於電子現金

One apparent solution to this problem is a non-BTC token that might take the form of a redeemable “share” of BTC pool payouts. This crypto asset derivative might take the form of a “PPLNS ecash share” that is traded on a secondary market and is linked to the BTC held by pool operators.

解決這個問題的一個明顯的解決方案是非 BTC 代幣，它可能採取 BTC 礦池支出的可贖回「份額」的形式。這種加密資產衍生品可能採取「PPLNS ecash 份額」的形式，在二級市場上交易，並與礦池營運商持有的 BTC 掛鉤。

Other proposals are also underway that offer features like faster transaction times, better liquidity, financeability, and other value propositions.

其他提案也在進行中，這些提案提供了更快的交易時間、更好的流動性、可融資性和其他價值主張等功能。