Binance Shutting Down Its Mining Pool, Citing Ongoing Review of Products and Services
Key Takeaways
- •Binance is winding down its mining pool, which it launched in 2020, and has pointed solely to an ongoing review of its products and services rather than naming a commercial rationale.
- •Miners who contributed hash power to Binance Pool will need to redirect their machines to other mining pools.
- •CoinShares reported that publicly listed Bitcoin miners faced an average cash cost of approximately $75,500 to produce one Bitcoin in the second quarter of 2026, while Bitcoin's average price fell to $58,400 by quarter-end.
- •The April 2024 halving cut the block subsidy in half, adding pressure from lower Bitcoin prices, rising production costs, and intensified competition for block rewards across the mining sector.
- •Poolin, once the world's largest Bitcoin mining pool, has filed for bankruptcy, and some mining companies are shifting computing capacity toward AI and high-performance computing, which CoinShares estimated could yield about $1.5 million in annualized profit per megawatt versus roughly $500,000 for Bitcoin mining.
Binance is shutting down its mining pool, and the exchange has not disclosed a specific financial or operational reason for the closure. In its official announcement, Binance cited only an ongoing review of its products and services, leaving the commercial rationale undisclosed.
Mining pools aggregate computing power from many miners and split block rewards in proportion to the work each participant contributes, giving smaller miners steadier payouts than solo mining. Binance entered the business when it launched Binance Pool in 2020, and with the service winding down, miners who contributed hash power to it will need to direct their machines to other pools.
The decision comes during a difficult stretch for the wider Bitcoin mining sector, which has faced pressure from lower Bitcoin prices, rising production costs, and intensified competition for block rewards following the April 2024 halving, which cut the block subsidy miners earn for adding new blocks to the Bitcoin network in half.
Industry data underscores the strain. CoinShares reported that publicly listed Bitcoin miners faced an average cash cost of approximately $75,500 to produce one Bitcoin in the second quarter of 2026, while the average price of Bitcoin fell to $58,400 by quarter-end. Mining revenue per unit of computing power, measured by hash price, hit a record low of $27.70 per petahash per second per day in June 2026, leaving the listed sector below aggregate cash breakeven, according to the report.
The squeeze has rippled across the industry. Poolin, once the world's largest Bitcoin mining pool, has filed for bankruptcy, while some mining companies have redirected computing capacity toward artificial intelligence and high-performance computing, where they see potentially more attractive returns. In its analysis, CoinShares estimated that AI computing could generate annualized profits of about $1.5 million per megawatt, compared with roughly $500,000 for Bitcoin mining.
These industry pressures provide context for Binance's decision, but there is no evidence that unprofitable mining, rising costs, or an AI pivot directly prompted the shutdown. The company has pointed solely to its ongoing product and services review, and the specific commercial rationale behind the closure remains undisclosed — a notable gap given Binance's position as one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges by trading volume.
Originally reported by BitcoinKE.
