Ocean, a Bitcoin mining pool backed by Jack Dorsey, has introduced block template options to allow individual miners to decide which transactions will be included in the next block. The feature, dubbed “path to decentralization,” will allow pool users to mine transactions with Ordinal inscriptions, paying a premium of 2% over the other miners in the pool.

Ocean Bitcoin Mining Pool Introduces Block Template Policies

Ocean, the Bitcoin mining pool backed by former Twitter (now X) CEO Jack Dorsey, has announced a change in its block template policies for mining. According to a press release, the company will now offer several block template options to allow miners to choose the transactions included in their blocks.

Ocean detailed that it will offer three block template policies, including two that filter Ordinal inscriptions and one that follows Bitcoin Core’s unmodified policies, referred to by Ocean as having the “fewest financial transactions and most spam.” While the first ones will enjoy a 0% “promotional pool fee,” the third option will have a 2% “competitive” fee.

Bitcoin Mechanic, global head of sales for Ocean, stated:

Block template construction has become so centralized that we can make significant progress towards improving things simply by providing a glimpse into the future.

The move, which departs from Ocean’s former position of filtering Ordinal inscriptions and Samourai Wallet privacy transactions, was received both positively and negatively by the Bitcoin community.

Bob Burnett, who revealed himself as an investor and a board member of Ocean, praised the announcement, explaining that this was a move focused on achieving Ocean’s decentralization goal. He declared:

This gives all miners a choice of a template that likely closely aligns with their own philosophy. This is a major step toward the ultimate goal of having 1000s of miners each running their own node and making their own templates with whatever criteria they wish.

However, others pointed out this move was an acknowledgment of Ocean’s mistake in filtering what they call “spam” transactions since day one. Udi Wertheimer, co-founder of the Ordinals inscriptions project Taproot Wizards, stressed that this was Ocean’s capitulation, recognizing the economic profit from mining these transactions.

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