A Reminder about Merged Mining
2024-12-05 13:03 UTC
We've been receiving a few emails lately inquiring about some of the more recently released scrypt cryptocurrencies, and whether the pool will be adding support for them. As a matter of fact, if a coin can be merge-mined with Litecoin, and it is profitable to do so, then we are probably already mining it. So you may be wondering: why are you receiving LTC and DOGE, but not any of these other coins?
As you may remember, a few months ago (February 2024) we started paying out DOGE separately from LTC, mainly due to Dogecoin's ever-increasing profitability. Before that, miners received only LTC, but more of it, as DOGE's contribution was used to increase the PPS ratio. As an example, when DOGE was about as profitable as LTC, you might have seen PPS ratios around 200%, meaning that a miner would receive twice as many litecoins compared to a standard zero-fee PPS reward system. (For more information about the PPS ratio, please see the FAQ.)
The decoupling of DOGE from LTC may have led some people to believe that this was the end of the PPS ratio, but that couldn't be further from the truth. We are still merge-mining many more chains than just Dogecoin, and they still contribute to sustaining a higher PPS ratio than you would be seeing otherwise.
It is important to note that over the years, many new cryptocurrencies have been released supporting (or adapted to support) merged mining with Litecoin. Most of them don't last long, often becoming unprofitable in a matter of weeks or even days, and being eventually abandoned by their own developers. Some hang around for years, but their profitability quickly becomes negligible. We want miners to receive fair rewards, but we also want to keep accounting as simple and straightforward as possible. This is why the PPS ratio was introduced, so that instead of having to keep track of a number of short-lived coins, you only need to care about two cryptocurrencies, Litecoin and Dogecoin, which have stood the test of time and can be relied upon.
In summary, and to answer the question above: you are not receiving any other coins because you are receiving more litecoins and dogecoins instead!