Digital Currency Group’s (DCG) Bitcoin mining subsidiary, Foundry USA, has announced that it will no longer offer its services for free starting mid-April.
Foundry has been providing free mining services since its launch in 2019, quickly becoming the world’s largest mining pool, with 33.49% of the global Bitcoin mining pool. However, the new decision will see Foundry USA adopt a tiered list of subscriptions, with prices varying per quarter based on the previous quarter’s hash rate.
“As the Foundry USA Pool continues to scale, we are implementing tiered fees that will further allow us to expand our feature set and continue operating within our FPPS [Full Pay Per Share] payout model. The pricing tiers for each quarter will be based on the previous quarter’s average hash rate – a measure of computing power.”
While most mining pool services charge a fee, Foundry’s free services have attracted a significant number of users. The move to introduce subscription fees has left some of Foundry’s users disappointed, but it was not entirely unexpected.
DCG and its subsidiaries have been facing funding problems, with Genesis, another subsidiary of DCG, going bankrupt due to its dealings with FTX. DCG had to reach an agreement with Genesis and other creditors, and the former is marked for sell-off as soon as a buyer appears.
Foundry USA’s new business model is aimed at allowing the company to expand its feature set and continue operating within its Full Pay Per Share (FPPS) payout model. While the pricing tiers for each quarter will depend on the previous quarter’s average hash rate, it remains unclear what prices current users will have to pay for the first quarter. The new business model is expected to take effect between the 19th and 22nd of April.