Bitcoin Developer Luke Dashjr Leaves Mining Pool Ocean After Mutual Split

Bitcoin developer Luke Dashjr has resigned from mining pool Ocean, stepping down as chairman, chief technology officer, and director. Parent company Mummolin has repurchased his entire equity stake in the firm, though financial terms of the buyback were not disclosed.

Both Sides Cite Differing Views on Mining’s Future

Ocean and Dashjr described the separation as mutual, pointing to disagreements over the direction of Bitcoin mining and recent developments within the protocol. Dashjr, who co-founded Ocean, plans to launch a new mining venture called Convoy, while Ocean said it will continue running its existing transparent, non-custodial pool that pays rewards directly to miners.

Departure Follows Recent Protocol Controversy

The split comes shortly after Dashjr took a temporary step back from Ocean following the failure of a controversial proposal aimed at restricting certain types of non-financial data storage on the Bitcoin network. The proposal’s collapse had already sparked debate within the developer community.

Mining Industry Faces Broader Shifts

The leadership change arrives at a time when the Bitcoin mining sector is undergoing significant strain. Several publicly traded mining companies have reduced their computing power dedicated to Bitcoin, instead leasing sites and energy capacity to artificial intelligence and high-performance computing operations. Meanwhile, a small number of major mining pools continue to produce the majority of new blocks on the network.