Bitcoin miners gain transaction control with Stratum V2 block, ETF up

Bitcoin mining pool DMND mined block 955,318 using Stratum V2’s Job Declaration, letting miner GoMining embed its own GoBTC Pay transactions and demonstrating that miners can directly participate in the payment stack; the move coincides with the CoinShares Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners ETF (WGMI) gaining 47.58% year‑to‑date despite Bitcoin’s 26.66% decline [1][2].

Stratum V2 gives miners direct transaction authority

Under the traditional pool model, miners submit hash power while the pool selects transactions, a structure that has long raised concerns over censorship and revenue distribution. Stratum V2, an open‑source protocol with broad industry backing, reverses this dynamic: miners retain pooled mining benefits but submit their own block templates for pool validation via the Job Declaration feature. GoMining exercised this capability to include payments from its open‑source GoBTC Pay protocol, marking the first live production use of Stratum V2 [1]. The protocol’s successful deployment removes a key technical barrier, suggesting that if adoption spreads, miners—not pools—will decide which transactions reach the blockchain, reshaping Bitcoin’s transaction layer.

Miner‑focused ETFs outperform Bitcoin itself

The CoinShares Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners ETF (WGMI) has risen 47.58% YTD, outpacing Bitcoin’s 26.66% decline, because its mandate excludes non‑mining holders like MicroStrategy and concentrates on companies deriving at least half of revenue from mining operations [2]. Over the past year the fund is up 116.98%, closing at $56.48 on July 6, though it faced an 11.33% drop over the trailing week, underscoring the high‑beta nature of miner stocks. The fund’s performance highlights how a mining‑centric exposure can decouple from Bitcoin’s price volatility, especially as miners improve operating leverage and pivot capacity toward AI and high‑performance computing tenants.

Implications for the payment stack

If miners can embed payment protocols directly into blocks—as demonstrated by GoMining’s GoBTC Pay transaction inclusion—they could become a de‑facto layer‑1 payment conduit, reducing reliance on off‑chain stablecoins for everyday commerce. This shift would address long‑standing critiques that Bitcoin’s volatility and confirmation times make it unsuitable for routine spending, by allowing miners to capture fee revenue while supporting payment‑focused applications. However, the approach also raises questions about block space competition and whether fee‑driven transaction selection might reintroduce centralization pressures.

What to watch

• Stratum V2 adoption – monitor announcements of additional pools or miners enabling Job Declaration in the next 12 months.
• WGMI holdings – watch for any rebalancing that adds or drops major miners, which could affect the ETF’s beta to Bitcoin.
• Block‑space usage – track on‑chain fee rates and transaction volume for miner‑embedded payment protocols to gauge market acceptance.

The emergence of miner‑controlled block construction and the strong performance of miner‑centric ETFs together suggest a potential realignment of Bitcoin’s role—from a pure store of value toward an active payment infrastructure—though the pace and breadth of adoption remain open questions.