Mining Pool Gini Concentration
Gini coefficient measuring inequality in hash power distribution across the top 14 mining pools - Lorenz curve methodology.
What is it?
Gini coefficient computed via the Lorenz curve applied to the daily distribution of hash power shares for the 14 dominant pools. Gini ranges between 0 (perfect equality, each pool has 1/14 of hash power) and 1 (extreme concentration, a single pool owns everything). Standard inequality measure, transposed from economics to pool decentralisation analysis.
How to read
A reading close to 0.3 indicates a relatively egalitarian distribution among top pools. A reading trending toward 0.7 or more indicates concerning concentration: a few pools largely dominate. The curve should be read in trend - a rising drift over several quarters indicates consolidation, falling indicates dispersion.
Key zones
Below 0.5, the distribution is considered acceptable per conventions borrowed from economics. Between 0.5 and 0.7, significant concentration. Above 0.7, concerning concentration from the network security standpoint (51% coordinated attack risk if a few pools collude).
What to observe
Watch sustained concentration peaks: they can precede a migration of hash power toward alternative pools if the community perceives a censorship risk. Conversely, increased dispersion (falling Gini) reflects healthy market rebalancing. Compare with mining-pool-concentration-hhi (Herfindahl index) to confirm the trend via two independent indices.
Historical context
In the early years (2010-2014), concentration was moderate with pools like DeepBit, BTCGuild, and later GHash.io which neared 50% in 2014, triggering a community reaction and a voluntary miner migration. Since then, the market has consolidated around a dozen major actors.
Expert notes
Gini is a scalar index that summarises the complete distribution in a single number - it loses information about the exact shape of the curve. For a richer reading, cross-reference with the Herfindahl index (HHI) which penalises dominant leaders more heavily. The two indices generally co-evolve but can diverge during specific market reorganisations.
Common mistakes to avoid
A low Gini is not synonymous with total mining decentralisation - it measures only the distribution between pools, not between individual miners. A single pool can group thousands of independent miners, and conversely multiple pools can belong to the same economic operator. For a complete reading, cross-reference with geographic analysis and pool ownership.
Programmatic access
REST API
curl -sS \
'https://api.trinityinsights.io/api/v1/onchain/mining-pool-concentration-gini/history?days=90' \
-H 'X-API-Key: $TRINITY_API_KEY'MCP server
{
"tool": "get_chart_value",
"metric_id": "mining-pool-concentration-gini",
"timeframe": "1y"
}Required tier: pro. See the pricing grid for the tier list and the MCP documentation for multi-client configuration.
Related metrics
Institutional disclaimer
Trinity Insights is an educational and analytical tool. The metric above does not constitute investment advice. Trinity Insights is not a Crypto-Asset Service Provider (CASP) registered under MiCA Regulation (EU) 2023/1114. See the full disclaimer.