As solo mining becomes less practical, most participants turn to pools. In a pool, thousands of miners combine their computing power and share the rewards. This provides smaller but more consistent payouts compared to the all-or-nothing nature of solo mining.
Some new ideas are emerging as well. Decentralized pools such as OCEAN, supported by major industry figures, aim to give miners more control over how blocks are constructed while avoiding risks. These experiments may shape the future of the practice, but they still offer more security than pure solo mining.
Another trend is the rise of large, industrial mining farms. These companies benefit from economies of scale, cheap electricity contracts, and advanced cooling technologies. Some firms are even shifting their infrastructure toward artificial intelligence workloads, showing how mining hardware can be repurposed for other uses.