Slush Pool can be called one of the oldest mining pools on the market. It was established in 2010 and it still is active. As we know Slush Pool is run by Satoshi Labs. The country of origin is the Czech Republic. The pool website supports 5 languages including English, French, Russian, Spanish, and Chinese. According to the different resources, 11% of all crypto blocks are mined here. It makes the pool one of the largest.
It's widely known that more than 1 million BTC has been mined here. The pool is truly popular and many users trust the Slush team. Is that really so efficient? Let us check and provide a pool review.
- Main Principles
- Technical Aspects
- Fees
- Customer Support
- Is It Safe to Use a Slush Pool?
- Pros and Cons
- Conclusion
Main Principles
The platform was established as the Bitcoin pool. Slush Pool is for Bitcoin’s side against all odds — it is a core principle of the pool. Subsequently, the platform added the possibility to mine Zcash as well. Nevertheless, the BTC is the main asset mined in the pool.
Another important pillar of the pool is the users. Slush is deeply community-oriented. The pool’s team is paying attention to the users' views and the developers are open to the new proposals. Every miner is able to share her/his view to the community and be sure that her/his voice will be heard.
The mining pool's interface and design are simple to use. The UX-designers did a great deal of work. All the necessary information was placed in a center of the page that's easy to navigate. If you try to scroll down different forums and chat rooms you won’t find many negative reviews or feedback. The experienced team provides a stable work of the pool without suspicious pending transactions. The Slush Pool mining platform has both Android and iOS applications and a desktop version.
Technical Aspects
Let's see how the pool works. The registration process is as simple as it could be. It could take literally a minute. It requires creating a username, setting a password, and your email address. After logging in you will have some special links to start mining.
There is a special mode for beginners. If you have just started or don’t have much knowledge you could start this mode. The pool helps automatically to set up your software and equipment and gives tips on what to do. If you are an experienced user, there are separate servers for BTC and Zcash. The software is free and it doesn’t take much time to install it. Your account will be ready to gain the profit within the day. If you have some doubts about whether to use the pool or not you can find at your disposal a demo version.
The payout system seems transparent and clear. When it comes to payouts the pool takes into consideration the pool's own and users' hashrates, current block value, and the fee. The whole process can take approximately up to 15-17 hours. Usually, the system needs 100 confirmations.
The user's payout goes to the chosen bitcoin address. In order to withdraw the sum should reach a specified threshold. The minimum amount is 0.001 BTC.
Furthermore, the merged mining has to be mentioned. This kind of mining allows the mining of two different coins simultaneously. It gives a chance to earn a higher reward. Slush Pool allows you to do the merged mine Bitcoin with Namecoin.
The good thing is that you don’t need to activate this feature separately. It can be turned on immediately after the activation. This operation is secure and legal. It could bring additional profits and it doesn’t count for anything. The pool provides all the information on how to use this feature. The support also is ready to answer any questions.
Fees
Some might say that the platform collects high fees. Each payout demands a 2% commission. Frankly speaking, despite the great service it could be a discouraging amount for some miners.
Customer Support
The pool provides 24/7 support. It doesn’t have a live chat or chatbox. The customer support is carried out via tickets and emails. The miners can ask questions at the website. The support responds quickly in less than 24 hours.
1/ #Bitcoin mining is back in the spotlight today (thanks for the press, FUDsters!), so we'll take this opportunity to share an update on just how secure the Bitcoin network has become thanks to the mining industry's growth in recent years.https://t.co/6JsBaBB2bV
— Slush Pool | by Braiins (@slush_pool) January 18, 2021
In addition, the server has many helpful guides and materials if you would like to get new knowledge about the mining and the pool’s work. There is a guide for newcomers, a user manual, a FAQ section, and the most common problems and solutions. The company’s official Facebook and Twitter contain news updates and information.
Is It Safe to Use a Slush Pool?
The security is on a high level as well. You can enable 2FA and you will have the possibility to lock the wallet address in case of emergency. The pool’s team can send the miners read-only token to log in again. It helps to identify your personality.
Pros and Cons
We came to the point and let us summarize the positive and negative aspects of the pool.
Pros:
- Well-experienced team with good knowledge of the crypto world
- A nice and convenient website with clear navigation and features
- Good reputation and much positive feedback
- Transparent payout and fee system
- Merged mining
Cons:
- Relatively high fees
- No variety of available coins
Conclusion
We would say that the service doesn’t have serious downsides. It’s an old and decent pool and it’s been demonstrating a high level for a long time. The pool actively attracts newcomers and assists them. It might be a good beginning for the freshmen due to its simplicity. Each miner might get a hand of good guidance from the support.
We found two aspects that could be considered as shortcomings. There are only two coins: Bitcoin and Zcash. But, taking into account the client-oriented service, maybe we can see new coins soon. For instance, many users beg to add Litecoin (LTC) to the list. Probably someday we will see Litecoin among the coins available for mining.
Some might also criticize the fee amount. That could be a big obstacle to start using the pool. But the service part is good enough that it could be worth it. If you are looking for a pool and you don’t know how to start we would strongly recommend using Slush Pool.