Seven leading Bitcoin mining pools, including AntPool, Block Inc., F2Pool, Foundry, MARA Foundation, SpiderPool, and DMND, have joined the Stratum V2 Working Group to develop open standard protocols for mining pool communication. This initiative aims to improve efficiency and decentralization in the Bitcoin mining industry by reducing the time required to mine blocks. Foundry and AntPool currently control significant portions of the global mining pool hash rate, at nearly 30% and 17.7%, respectively. The development of an open standard is expected to provide miners with greater flexibility and reduce centralization in the industry. Meanwhile, Bitcoin mining difficulty is set to increase on May 15, 2026, from 132.47 T to 135.64 T, adding pressure to miners already facing rising energy costs. CoinShares reports that up to 20% of Bitcoin miners are currently unprofitable, with hashprice levels nearing breakeven for some.