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How BCH Mining Pool PPS+ Payout Works: Block Reward vs. Transaction Fees
2026-11-05 09:34

What Is a BCH Mining Pool With PPS+ Payout

A BCH mining pool using PPS+ (Pay-Per-Share Plus) combines two different accounting rules into a single payment method. This is a practical distinction, not a technical footnote: the way a pool treats the block subsidy and the way it treats transaction fees determine how quickly a miner is credited and how much variance remains in that credit. ViaBTC's BCH pool currently offers two payment methods, PPS+ and PPLNS, with PPS+ listed as the default option in its pricing documentation (ViaBTC Pricing).

The common shorthand — "PPS+ pays miners a steady rate" — is accurate only for part of the payout. The remainder follows a different rule entirely. Understanding this split is more useful for a BCH miner than treating PPS+ as one uniform formula.

How ViaBTC's BCH PPS+ Works

ViaBTC's PPS+ structure for BCH separates mining income into two components that are calculated, charged, and settled differently.

PPS for the Block Reward Component

The newly issued BCH awarded to the block finder — the block subsidy, currently 3.125 BCH per block — is accounted for under standard PPS (Pay-Per-Share) rules. Under PPS, a miner is credited for every valid share submitted to the pool, regardless of whether the pool actually finds a block during that period. ViaBTC publishes the calculation for this component as:

Shares / Difficulty × Block Reward × (1 − Pool Fee)

This formula describes how ViaBTC calculates the PPS block-reward component specifically; it is not a hardware-efficiency or device-profitability calculation, and it should not be used to infer ASIC performance from submitted shares alone. Because PPS pays based on expected value per share, ViaBTC absorbs the pool's own block-finding variance (commonly called pool luck) for this portion of the reward (ViaBTC: How to Choose the Optimal Payment Method).

PPLNS for Transaction Fees

Transaction fees included in a mined block are not distributed under PPS. Instead, ViaBTC allocates this component under PPLNS (Pay-Per-Last-N-Shares) rules: once a block with transaction fees receives six confirmations, the fee amount is distributed according to a miner's share of the pool's total hashrate across the preceding five difficulty rounds. Because transaction fees vary block to block — sometimes substantially — this component does not behave like a fixed addition to the PPS payout. A recent 144-block sample on the BCH network showed total fees of 0.27994098 BCH, equal to roughly 0.062% of total block rewards in that sample window. This figure illustrates that transaction fees are a small and variable contribution relative to the block subsidy; it is a historical snapshot, not a forecast or a stable rate.

The complete PPS+ payout is therefore the sum of two independently calculated components:

PPS+ mining earnings
= PPS-calculated block-reward component
+ PPLNS-distributed transaction-fee component

Fees and Settlement Timing

Because PPS+ for BCH combines two accounting methods, it also carries two separate fee rates and two separate settlement schedules.

Two Fees, Not One

ViaBTC currently charges a 4% fee on the PPS block-reward component and a 2% fee on the PPLNS transaction-fee component (ViaBTC Pricing). These rates apply to different parts of the payout and should not be added together into a single "6% PPS+ fee." A miner's effective blended fee depends on how large the transaction-fee component is relative to the block subsidy in a given period, and that ratio is not fixed.

Settlement Is Not Withdrawal

The PPS block-reward component is credited hourly, based on current network difficulty at the time of calculation. The PPLNS transaction-fee component is only distributed after the relevant block reaches six confirmations, using the hashrate-weighted calculation over the previous five difficulty rounds — a process that does not follow the same hourly schedule.

Neither of these settlement events is the same as an external wallet withdrawal. ViaBTC's BCH mining documentation describes auto withdrawal as a daily processing window (10:00–18:00, UTC+8) separate from normal transfers, which are available at any time subject to a network fee (ViaBTC BCH Mining Guide). In practice, this means a miner's account balance can update hourly while an actual transfer to an external wallet follows a different, independent schedule.

PPS+ Versus PPLNS for BCH Miners

The practical difference between PPS+ and PPLNS lies in how earnings are calculated, which fees apply, and who bears block-finding variance. PPS+ pays the subsidy component based on the expected value of valid shares, while PPLNS distributes rewards based on blocks the pool actually finds. Neither method guarantees profitability.

Under PPS+, the pool absorbs block-finding variance for the block-reward component, since miners are paid for valid shares submitted regardless of whether the pool finds a block in a given period. Under PPLNS, both the block reward and the transaction fees are tied more directly to blocks the pool actually finds, which can produce higher variance for the miner but avoids the PPS block-reward fee structure. Pool luck affects the transaction-fee component under PPS+ and both components under PPLNS. BCH market price movements affect the fiat value of earned BCH, rather than directly changing the amount of BCH credited. Published earnings estimates are approximations, not guaranteed payouts (ViaBTC: How to Choose the Optimal Payment Method). A miner evaluating payout structure should weigh tolerance for short-term variance against sensitivity to the fee difference on the block-reward component, rather than assuming one method is universally better.

Connecting a SHA-256 ASIC to the BCH Pool

Connecting to a BCH pool for PPS+ accounting requires the same Stratum setup used for any SHA-256 mining connection. ViaBTC currently lists BCH endpoints including a standard connection, a failover port, and an SSL-secured option, documented in its pool connection reference (ViaBTC Mining Pools Information).

Worker names follow the format userID.workerID, where the worker ID may use lowercase letters and numbers; a worker password is optional. Because connectivity interruptions can occur on any network path, ViaBTC's BCH guide suggests configuring more than one pool endpoint so a miner's device can attempt a different connection if the primary one fails — this is practical guidance rather than a mandatory configuration. SHA-256 ASICs commonly used for BCH mining include units from the Antminer S19 series, Whatsminer M30S series, and Innosilicon T3+ line, cited here only as examples of hardware compatible with BCH's SHA-256 algorithm, not as current purchase recommendations.

What to Monitor After Connecting

Once a BCH worker is active, the figures worth tracking are distinct from one another and should not be conflated. Pool-reported hashrate, typically shown as a rolling average over a stated window, reflects the pool's estimate based on submitted shares — it is not identical to a device's locally reported hashrate. Worker status and rejected-share counts indicate connection quality and submitted-work validity; a rejected share is a broader category that can include stale, invalid, or duplicate submissions depending on the cause. Credited earnings reflect the PPS+ accounting described above and should be read against the hourly block-reward settlement and the separate transaction-fee distribution timing, not against a single expected daily figure.

FAQ

Is PPS+ a fixed-income payout model?

No. PPS+ reduces a miner's exposure to the pool's own block-finding variance for the block-subsidy component, but it does not guarantee a fixed amount of BCH. The PPS component depends on the miner's accepted work and current network difficulty, while the transaction-fee component depends on the blocks the pool finds, their fees, and the miner's share of work within the PPLNS window. BCH's market price affects the fiat value of those earnings, not directly the amount of BCH credited. ViaBTC describes published profit estimates as approximations rather than guaranteed figures.

Does the 4% fee plus the 2% fee equal a 6% PPS+ fee?

No. The 4% fee applies only to the PPS-calculated block-reward component, and the 2% fee applies only to the PPLNS-distributed transaction-fee component. Because these are fees on two separate income streams rather than a single combined stream, they should not be added together as one blended rate.

Does hourly PPS settlement mean a miner can withdraw BCH every hour?

No. Hourly settlement refers to how the PPS block-reward component is calculated and credited to a miner's pool balance based on current difficulty. External withdrawal to a wallet follows ViaBTC's separate auto-withdrawal schedule or an on-demand normal transfer, each governed by its own timing and fee rules.

Why can PPS+ earnings still change from one period to the next?

Because network difficulty changes over time, transaction-fee volume varies block to block, and a miner's share of total submitted work can shift with uptime and connection stability. The PPS portion smooths out the pool's own block-finding variance, but it does not remove these underlying network and operational variables.

References

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