CONVOY relaunches and ships DATUM Gateway 0.5.0 beta for BLAKE2b

The XBT mining pool CONVOY has officially relaunched and released DATUM Gateway 0.5.0 beta, the first DATUM release updated for Bitcoin's new BLAKE2b proof of work. DATUM is the open-source software that lets a miner build their own block template with their own node while still sharing rewards through a pool.

In its announcement, @Convoy_Mining says the pool was originally known as Eligius and is the successor to OCEAN, and that DATUM Gateway is now under CONVOY's stewardship. Eligius was one of the earliest Bitcoin mining pools. OCEAN is the SHA-256 pool where DATUM was first built.

Why it matters

Who builds the block decides what goes in it. On SHA-256, almost every hasher hands that job to a pool, which is the problem we covered in They can't just switch pools. DATUM gives the job back to the miner.

• DATUM already carries most of XBT. About 70% of XBT blocks over the past week came from pools that offer DATUM, including the four largest.
• CONVOY is a real pool, not a side project. It found 103 of the last 1,215 XBT blocks (8.5%) over the 7 days to Oct 10.
• The software now has an active maintainer on the new chain. A DATUM release built for BLAKE2b means miners don't have to rely on patched or unofficial builds.

CONVOY's own wording is worth noting, too: it calls BLAKE2b "Bitcoin's new proof-of-work algorithm."

If you mine XBT

1. Run your own node. DATUM builds templates from your node, so it follows your node's rules. Most XBT nodes run Knots.
2. Get DATUM Gateway 0.5.0 beta from the links in CONVOY's post.
3. Start small. It's a beta. Point part of your hash at it first, check that shares and payouts look right, then move the rest.

Compare poolsPool share over time

Reporting only. Not financial advice. Details of the relaunch and release come from CONVOY's public post. Pool shares from XBT block explorers via xbt.live, 7 days to Oct 10, 2026.