A Pool Fee is the price of a mining pool’s service on the Bitcoin network. It is usually deducted as a share of the calculated reward or reflected in a lower rate for submitted work. It is not the same as a payout fee, let alone the sum of all mining costs.
Peter sees a reward on screen but does not yet know whether it is the gross amount before fees or the amount left after the deduction. Braiins uses FPPS (Full Pay Per Share), a model that pays for accepted work and includes transaction-fee revenue. It first calculates the reward and then deducts the pool fee. The base includes both newly issued bitcoin and transaction fees. If the displayed result already includes the deduction and Peter subtracts it again, he counts it twice. A percentage always belongs to a particular calculation base. The pool measures accepted work through shares: partial computation results that demonstrate a miner’s contribution. Most do not meet the stricter requirement for a valid block. [1]
In our illustrative example, Peter has a gross reward of 100000 sats and a 2% fee. Sats is short for satoshis, the smallest units recorded in Bitcoin transactions: 1 BTC is divided into 100000000 sats. The pool keeps 2000 sats, leaving 98000 sats after this deduction. This is not any pool’s current price list. The calculation simply shows how a percentage fee works. The remainder is not yet profit: Peter still needs to cover electricity, equipment and other costs, possibly including the payout itself. [1]
Someone pays a fee and someone receives it. Transaction fees that users attach to payments included in blocks are part of mining revenue. Luxor’s FPPS methodology includes them alongside newly issued bitcoin and describes the pool fee as a discount to the reference rate for work. Peter should therefore not automatically subtract every item containing the word “fee.” A share of fees earned from mined blocks is different from the price of sending his payout. [2]
Payout threshold specifies the balance needed to send funds, not an amount automatically deducted from the reward. Below the threshold, the reward may remain in the pool account. Payout fee, by contrast, is a separate charge for the transfer and may depend on its amount or network. Peter should therefore also read the sending conditions. A zero fee for the pool’s service does not, by itself, mean a free transfer to his wallet. [1]
Firmware is software that directly controls a device. Braiins OS documentation describes its separate dev fee, a charge for development and use under the licence. That is a different service from the pool. The fees need not share a calculation base or collection method. Two published percentages therefore cannot simply be added into one deduction without understanding the mechanisms. Peter needs to know what he actually pays for and whether the terms refund or otherwise adjust an item. [3]
A statement may show refunds alongside rewards. Braiins’ daily data interface, intended for programs to read, distinguishes mining_reward, the standard reward; bos_plus_reward, the pool fee refunded for using Braiins OS; and total_reward, the sum of daily rewards. If the refund is already included in the total, it cannot be added again. What matters to Peter is his actual entitlement and a statement for the same period, not merely a benefit promised on an advertising banner. [4]
Under PPS (Pay Per Share), payment for an accepted partial work result, the miner need not wait for the pool to find a block. Meni Rosenfeld explains that the operator bears the risk that fewer blocks are found than expected and needs appropriate financial reserves. Even if the pool has an unlucky spell, its obligations to miners continue. A low fee therefore does not itself prove better service or enough money for payouts. A steadier calculation method does not eliminate the risk of operator failure. [5]
Peter ultimately compares rewards actually credited for comparable amounts of accepted work, not merely an app’s instant estimate. He must use the same time window, distinguish refunds and payout costs, and know which methodology produced the figures. Luxor explicitly allows changes to its calculation; an old guide may therefore not explain a new statement. Only then does the comparison show what the advertised percentage means in practice. The lowest advertised rate alone does not determine the net result. [2] [4]
For the clearest picture, read this entry together with Mining Pool, Pay Per Share, Pay Per Last N Shares, Hashprice, Bitcoin. The reverse links also lead from Braiins Pool, Pay Per Share, Pay Per Last N Shares, Full Pay Per Share.