FRIDAY, JUN26
1. First miner-built SV2 block, 2. CoinEx Iran flows, 3. Sphere 3D co-mining, 4. Flexible grid load
From Proto and Bitkey - part of the Bitcoin ecosystem at Block, Inc.
1. stratumv2
A bitcoin block was mined for the first time on a pool where the individual miner, not the pool operator, selected which transactions to include, using the open Stratum V2 protocol. The milestone occurred on the DMND pool with hashrate from GoMining, and was amplified by Bitcoin Core contributor Matt Corallo, who called it legitimately huge while noting the future of mining is here but unevenly distributed. The significance is structural: under the legacy Stratum V1 protocol, a handful of pool operators decide the contents of most bitcoin blocks, a centralization that creates a censorship vector if any operator is pressured to filter transactions. Stratum V2’s job negotiation lets a miner running its own node build its own block template, distributing that power across thousands of operators. Seven major pools representing roughly 75% of hashrate joined the Stratum V2 Working Group in May. This first miner-selected block turns a years-long decentralization argument into working reality.
-EDITOR·OP_DAILY2. coinex
Blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs, in a report relayed by the Wall Street Journal, traced more than $3.84 billion in flows between the exchange CoinEx and sanctioned Iranian entities since 2019, naming it a primary gateway for Iran to reach global crypto liquidity. The largest share, roughly $2.7 billion, moved through Nobitex, Iran’s biggest domestic exchange, and TRM flagged exposure to wallets linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and other sanctioned groups. CoinEx disputed the findings, arguing that on-chain flows do not prove a platform knew of or supported illicit activity, and said it has tightened controls and restricted Iranian users. For a freedom-tech audience, the case is double-edged: it shows the formidable power of chain-analysis surveillance to reconstruct financial relationships years later, while also demonstrating how genuine sanctions evasion invites exactly the monitoring that erodes ordinary financial privacy. The episode underscores that public blockchains are transparent by default, a property that cuts in every direction at once.
-EDITOR·OP_DAILY3. sphere3d
Sphere 3D has signed co-mining agreements with Bitdeer Technologies to host 30 megawatts of bitcoin mining capacity across three of its data-center sites in Tennessee and Kentucky, monetizing power assets while it evaluates AI infrastructure opportunities, TheMinerMag reports. The co-mining structure lets Sphere 3D generate revenue from its energized sites in partnership with a larger mining operator rather than bearing all the operational risk alone. The arrangement fits a broader pattern among power-controlling companies that are weighing whether to deploy capacity toward bitcoin mining, AI computing, or a blend of both. For observers of the energy-and-compute landscape, the deal illustrates how operators with access to power and data-center space are keeping options open, using mining as a near-term revenue source while assessing the higher-value but more demanding AI tenancy market. Co-mining also spreads execution risk between partners. The move signals continued competition for the same scarce resources, power and suitable sites, that both bitcoin miners and AI operators increasingly chase.
-EDITOR·OP_DAILY4. grid-flex
Energy financier Jigar Shah amplified a Works in Progress analysis arguing that US grids could absorb far more large-load demand if operators treated flexibility as a feature rather than a bug. Shah highlighted one striking figure: 76 gigawatts of new load could be added if users were willing to disconnect for roughly 22 hours per year, in short non-consecutive windows, a profile bitcoin miners have practiced for years through demand response. The point lands as AI data centers flood interconnection queues and regulators scramble for batching rules like Texas’s ERCOT Batch Zero process. Flexible loads are not grid parasites when priced and coordinated correctly; they can fund infrastructure that baseload users cannot. For miners competing with hyperscale compute for the same wires, Shah’s math reframes flexibility as grid capacity policy, not a concession. It reinforces a case miners have made for years, now landing with new urgency as AI strains the grid.
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