Bitcoin mining has become increasingly challenging after the 2024 halving, with block rewards reduced and mining difficulty staying above 135T in 2026. Electricity costs alone to mine one Bitcoin have risen above $74,000, leaving little room for inefficiencies. To address this, EMCD, a mining pool infrastructure provider, has partnered with Vnish, a firmware technology company holding 26.4% global market share. Together, they aim to help miners identify and fix profit leaks without purchasing new hardware. At Consensus 2026 in Miami, EMCD CEO Michael Jerlis emphasized the shift from service providers to partners. The partnership targets losses at the machine level (factory firmware can leave up to 25% of hardware performance unused), pool fees (differences between 1.5% and 4% can significantly impact annual output), and rejected shares due to latency (costing 2-5% monthly income). The service includes hashboard diagnostics, tuning, network-loss reduction, and expert audits. Vnish's custom firmware optimizes ASIC performance and reduces power consumption, while EMCD improves pool connectivity and routing to minimize rejected shares. This hands-on approach aims to help miners survive in a market where small inefficiencies have high costs.

Key facts

• EMCD and Vnish partner to help miners optimize profitability post-halving.
• Factory firmware can leave up to 25% of hardware performance unused.
• Pool fee differences of 1.5% to 4% significantly impact annual output.
• Rejected shares due to latency can cost 2% to 5% of monthly income.
• Service includes diagnostics, tuning, network optimization, and audits.

KeyAudit data perspective