DMND and RootstockLabs are partnering to implement Stratum V2 for merge-mining, a move aimed at giving Bitcoin miners more control over block construction and sidechain rewards. The integration lets miners build their own block templates and handle merge-mined block commitments from the Rootstock (RSK) sidechain — a step toward reversing the centralization trend in Bitcoin mining.
How Stratum V2 changes the game
Stratum V2 is a mining protocol update that shifts block-template construction from the pool operator to individual miners. Under the older Stratum protocol, pools dictated which transactions went into a block. With V2, miners can choose for themselves. The new partnership adds merge-mining support on top of that, allowing a single Proof-of-Work hash to secure both Bitcoin and the Rootstock sidechain simultaneously. The child chain's headers ride along inside the parent chain's coinbase transaction.
Direct sBTC rewards for miners
Miners who participate can claim Rootstock sidechain rewards in sBTC without any revenue-sharing agreement or having the pool custody the funds. DMND CEO Alejandro De La Torre said the arrangement puts miners in control of merge mining and pays them directly to support broader Bitcoin ecosystem decentralization. The payments come in sBTC, a token pegged to Bitcoin on the RSK sidechain, which miners can then use or trade.
Real-world test for decentralization
The integration isn't just a feature rollout — it's also a live experiment. Despite its clear decentralization goals, implementing Stratum V2 and merge-mining at scale could reveal new centralization pressures. If only large miners adopt the custom block templates, smaller players might still rely on pool defaults, effectively centralizing who actually benefits. De La Torre's team will be watching how the network responds as miners begin using the setup. The timing matters: Bitcoin mining has grown increasingly concentrated in a handful of pools, and any solution that spreads power back to individual miners is rare.
What comes next
DMND and RootstockLabs haven't set a public deadline for full deployment, but the integration is already available for testing. Miners interested in claiming sBTC rewards without intermediaries can start experimenting with Stratum V2 merge-mining now. Whether the protocol shift actually changes mining concentration — or just adds a new revenue stream for the biggest players — remains the open question.
