Slush Pool, the first group created for Bitcoin mining, stopped processing incentives in BTC to addresses sanctioned by the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). The decision does not imply restrictions or censorship on operations on the blockchain.
According to Edward Evenson, director of business development for Braiins, parent company of Slush Pool, the group no longer sends payments to any address that is included in the ‘black list’ of the regulators . Through his Twitter account, @ WillHash4Coins, the developer explained the situation and defended the pool’s position.
«We, as a company, can decide with whom to do business. Are you implying that we are unethical if we do not send BTC to certain addresses? It doesn’t seem very ‘free market’ to me, explained Evenson, who in January was criticized for using the term ‘interact’ with those addresses.
The generalization created confusion about how the treatment would be from Slush Pool to BTC addresses that have been sanctioned by the dependent office of the Department of Treasure. The misinterpretation would have been related to possible censorship or restrictions on the transactions processed by the group, something that Evenson clarified again.
«I am surprised that many have misunderstood this, even people who have been in this space for a while. So before any of you get more entangled, it just means that we as a company do not send BTC to OFAC addresses, “added the group executive.
A group of bitcoin addresses have been banned by OFAC in recent years. The US authority has added to its “black list” various addresses for being involved in cases of money laundering, drug smuggling, cases of ransomware or hacker groups related to Korea North, as reported by CriptoNoticias.
Case Slush Pool, DMG and Blockseer
The case of Slush Pool recalled that of the company DMG Blockchain Solutions, in the United States, and the launch of its Blockseer mining pool. Unlike Slush Pool, DMG’s mining pool officially announced that it would not validate transactions related to addresses that have been sanctioned by OFAC.
DMG, which previously relied on blockchain analysis using the Blockseer platform, was questioned for wanting to censor through Bitcoin mining, which for some specialists would set a dangerous precedent in the bitcoiner ecosystem.
In January of this year DMG, Together with the Marathon company, they founded the Digital Currency Miners Association of North America (or DCMNA). It is an alliance that is aimed at complying with the regulations established in the United States, which includes the provisions of OFAC and any regulatory body.
Although there are clear differences between Slush’s positions Pool of not sending incentives to sanctioned addresses, and those of Blockseer and Marathon, of not validating operations involving those addresses, all network participants must comply with the consensus to operate.
If a pool decides not to validate some transactions, it must still accept the blocks with operations that have been certified by other miners. It is a synchronization so that the network operations continue to function.