Mining Pool
A server that combines hashrate from many miners and splits the rewards proportionally.
A mining pool aggregates the work of dozens to thousands of individual miners so the pool as a whole finds blocks frequently. Each miner submits shares - small proofs of work - and receives a slice of the reward proportional to the shares they contributed. Pools take a small fee (usually 1-2%) for running the infrastructure. For home miners, pools turn lumpy lottery-style earnings into steady predictable payouts. Most beginners start with a pool because it confirms their setup is working within minutes instead of waiting potentially weeks for a solo block.