Top-3 Mining Pools Share
Sum of top 3 mining pools hash power dominance (Foundry + AntPool + F2Pool), 7-day rolling MA. Centralization risk indicator: empirical threshold 50% = alert.
What is it?
This metric sums the hash power dominance of the 3 leading mining pools : Foundry USA, AntPool, F2Pool. Formula : sum = foundryusa_dominance + antpool_dominance + f2pool_dominance, smoothed by 7-day moving average for stability. The resulting ratio is typically between 40% and 60% of network hash power (concentrated on 3 actors). It's an EXTREME centralization indicator - complementary to HHI which covers top 10.
How to read
Y axis : share of the 3 pools in % (the stored value is a 0-1 proportion, displayed in %). A reading > 50% means at least half of the network hash power is controlled by 3 pools - empirical centralization alert threshold. A reading < 33% would indicate maximum fragmentation (historically rare ratio). The metric being 7d smoothed, variations are gradual - a trend change reflects real consolidation or fragmentation, not daily noise.
Key zones
Zone < 33% : minority top 3 (historically rare, pre-China ban fragmentation). Zone 33-50% : normal moderately concentrated regime. Zone 50-60% : typical post-2022 regime (Foundry + AntPool + F2Pool dominate). Zone > 60% : strong centralization, theoretical 51% attack alert (3 actors colluding is enough to reach 50%+1). Historical post-China ban record briefly touched ~65% during maximum consolidation phases.
What to observe
Watch the 50% crossing : entry into centralization alert zone. Compare with `mining-pool-concentration-hhi` : top-3 and HHI should move together in stable regime ; a divergence (top-3 rising but HHI stable) marks fragmentation of pools 4-10 (top 3 growing at the expense of others). Also watch the identity of top 3 : if a new pool enters top 3, recalibrate cycle analysis.
Historical context
Pre-China ban (before 2021-06-21) : top 3 typically around 40-50% (Chinese + Western fragmentation). Post-China ban : massive exodus → rapid consolidation to 55-60% with FoundryUSA emergence. Later phases alternated between stabilization and brief consolidation peaks, especially around halvings, which favor pools with capital. Read the current level against these past regimes rather than against a fixed level.
Expert notes
The 7d rolling is a compromise between reactivity (vs noisy daily) and stability (vs 30d too slow to detect rapid shifts). For fine analysis, compare with 30d rolling (long-term perspective) - divergence between both indicates change SPEED (7d rolling overheating, 30d stable = RAPID change in progress). Top 3 fixed on Foundry + AntPool + F2Pool - for other triplets, use MULTIBAND_DEFS `mining-pools-dominance` toggle.
Common mistakes to avoid
A high top-3 does not mechanically imply collusion or 51% attack : the 3 pools are independent corporate entities (Cipher Mining/FoundryUSA, Bitmain/AntPool, indépendant/F2Pool) - collusion would be technically detectable quickly and legally risky. The risk is rather PARALYSIS in case of one actor failure (e.g. Foundry June 2024 incident). To be analyzed with `mining-pool-concentration-hhi` for aggregated view.
Programmatic access
REST API
curl -sS \
'https://api.trinityinsights.io/api/v1/onchain/metrics/top-3-pools-share/data?timeframe=90d' \
-H 'X-API-Key: $TRINITY_API_KEY'MCP server
{
"tool": "get_chart_value",
"metric_id": "top-3-pools-share",
"timeframe": "1y"
}Required tier: pro. See the pricing grid for the tier list and the MCP documentation for multi-client configuration.
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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.