Datum Protocol
Datum Protocol is a Bitcoin mining protocol that lets miners build their own block templates while using pooled payouts.
Definition
Datum Protocol is a mining protocol for Bitcoin that lets miners create their own block templates while still mining through a pool. DATUM stands for Decentralized Alternative Templates for Universal Mining. Its main goal is to reduce the control that mining pools have over which transactions go into blocks.
In normal pool mining, the pool usually decides the candidate block and sends small work assignments to miners. Miners provide hash rate, submit shares, and receive payouts based on the pool’s accounting rules. Datum keeps the pooled payout model, but moves more block-construction authority back to the miner.
How It Works
With Datum, a miner typically runs a Bitcoin node, mining hardware, and a DATUM gateway. The Bitcoin node validates the chain, tracks the mempool, and can help build a local block template. The gateway connects the miner’s ASICs to the pool and coordinates work in a way that lets the miner use its own candidate block data.
The miner’s machines still perform ordinary proof-of-work: they repeatedly hash block header data while searching for a result below a target. Most successful results are pool-level shares, not full network blocks. These shares prove contribution and allow the pool to calculate payouts.
If the miner finds a hash that satisfies Bitcoin’s network difficulty, the locally chosen block template can become the block submitted to the network. That means the miner may influence transaction selection instead of simply accepting every template built by the pool.
Datum is related to the same decentralization problem addressed by Stratum V2, especially the idea that miners should be able to participate in job or template selection. It is also different from pure solo mining, because miners can still benefit from pooled reward smoothing.
Why It Matters
Datum matters because mining pools are powerful coordination points. When many miners accept templates from a small number of pools, those pools can influence transaction ordering, transaction exclusion, and the practical censorship resistance of Bitcoin. Even if miners own the hardware, the pool may control the block content.
By letting miners build templates locally, Datum gives miners more sovereignty over the work they perform. It encourages miners to run full nodes, verify their own view of the network, and reduce blind trust in pool infrastructure.
The tradeoff is complexity. Running Datum is more involved than entering a pool URL into an ASIC miner. Miners need reliable node infrastructure, correct configuration, and enough operational knowledge to keep their setup healthy. For miners who care about decentralization and transaction-selection independence, that added work can be worthwhile.