Merged mining allows a miner to receive rewards from an auxiliary blockchain in addition to rewards from the primary coin being mined, without operating separate mining hardware for the auxiliary chain. The practical question—how much extra does this actually add to a miner's revenue—does not have a fixed percentage answer. The additional amount depends on which coins a pool supports, how that pool calculates and settles auxiliary rewards, how often auxiliary blocks are found, and the market value of the auxiliary coin at the time it is credited.

For planning, an indicative estimate can use expected coin rewards under current network conditions, pool payout rules, and current prices. It is a forecast, not a guaranteed return. To measure what your own operation actually earned, the most reliable approach is to compare the value of auxiliary-coin rewards actually credited to your account over a completed period against your primary-coin mining revenue over that same period, expressed in the same currency. Value both sets of rewards when they were credited, using a consistent price source. Estimates help with planning; credited reward records establish historical mining revenue.

What Merged Mining Adds—and What It Does Not

Merged mining relies on Auxiliary Proof of Work (AuxPoW), a mechanism that allows a single proof-of-work solution to be simultaneously valid for a parent chain and one or more compatible auxiliary chains. Litecoin and Dogecoin are a widely used example: both use the Scrypt hashing algorithm, and Dogecoin has supported AuxPoW since 2014, allowing Scrypt miners to submit work that can satisfy Dogecoin's network target alongside Litecoin's.

What this arrangement does not do is guarantee a fixed reward. Miners submit shares to the pool, which uses accepted shares to measure each miner's contribution during a period; a share is easier to produce than a full network block, and only a subset of submitted work actually results in a found block on any given chain. Whether an auxiliary block is found, and how much of that block's reward reaches a given miner, depends on the auxiliary chain's difficulty, the pool's participating hashrate on that chain, and the pool's payout method for auxiliary rewards. On ViaBTC, for example, DOGE, BELLS, PEP, and DINGO rewards for LTC miners are distributed under PPLNS even when the miner has selected PPS+ as the payout method for LTC itself, so the LTC payout mode should not be assumed to apply to the auxiliary coins (ViaBTC Help Center).

A Straightforward Way to Calculate the Extra Revenue

Over a completed period—a full calendar month, or a set of fully settled days—the added revenue from merged mining can be measured as a ratio:

Revenue uplift (%) = combined value of credited auxiliary-coin rewards ÷ value of credited primary-coin rewards × 100

Include all auxiliary coins being measured in the numerator. Both figures must use the same fiat currency, the same price source, and the same time window, with each reward valued when it was credited. For example, if a miner directs Scrypt hashrate to an LTC pool and, over a 30-day period, the pool credits LTC worth $500 and DOGE worth $50 at the time each was credited, the DOGE reward represents a 10% increase over LTC-only revenue. Combined revenue is $550; the 10% measures the increase over the $500 LTC baseline, not the share of combined revenue. This example is hypothetical and illustrates the calculation only; actual results vary by pool, hashrate share, and market conditions.

This figure describes mining revenue valued when credited. If the auxiliary coins are sold later, record the proceeds after any applicable conversion, trading, and withdrawal costs separately. Price changes between receipt and sale create a gain or loss on the coins held; they do not change the mining revenue measured at receipt. Comparing those later net proceeds with primary-coin rewards valued when credited would mix valuation methods and would not isolate the revenue added by merged mining.

Why the Percentage Varies Over Time

Several variables affect the size of the auxiliary reward relative to primary mining revenue, and none of them are fixed:

• The auxiliary chain's block reward and how frequently the auxiliary chain finds a block relative to the reporting period.
• The auxiliary chain's difficulty and the total hashrate contributing to it through the pool, which affects how often blocks are found.
• Pool luck and the specific shares counted under PPLNS during the window in which a block is found.
• The pool's fee structure and any conditions attached to auxiliary-reward eligibility.
• The market price and liquidity of the auxiliary coin, which can shift materially even within a short window. Dogecoin, for instance, closed at $0.080051 on September 15, 2026 and at $0.096730 on September 26, 2026, according to CoinGecko's daily historical data—a difference of roughly 21% over eleven days. The same quantity of DOGE credited on either date would therefore represent a different dollar amount, independent of anything the miner did differently.

Because these variables change over time, a percentage observed in one month is not a reliable predictor for the next. Conversion, trading, and withdrawal costs can further affect net proceeds when coins are sold or transferred; they are separate from the credited-revenue ratio above.

What ViaBTC Currently Supports

According to ViaBTC's Help Center documentation checked on September 29, 2026, BTC miners can receive NMC and FB alongside BTC, and LTC miners can receive DOGE, BELLS, PEP, and DINGO alongside LTC, under either PPS+ or PPLNS as the LTC payout method (ViaBTC Help Center: What Is Merged Mining). Readers should treat any published coin list, including this one, as a snapshot and confirm current support directly through ViaBTC's documentation before relying on it for a mining decision.

Supporting an auxiliary coin also requires protocol compatibility, not simply pool willingness. Bitcoin's merged-mining support for Namecoin and Fractal Bitcoin works on the same underlying principle as Litecoin's support for DOGE and related coins: the auxiliary chain must be capable of validating proof of work produced for the parent chain. A miner cannot combine arbitrary coins simply because compatible hardware is available; the pool and the chains involved must support the arrangement.

Gross Revenue Is Not the Same as Profit

Mining revenue valued when credited should be kept separate from operating costs and from gains or losses on coins held after receipt. Electricity, hosting, and other operating expenses apply to the mining operation as a whole and should not be subtracted a second time if they are already reflected in a separate profitability calculation for the primary coin. When comparing merged-mining revenue against those costs, it is important to use the same period and the same cost basis rather than mixing a monthly electricity bill against a daily reward figure.

It is also worth separating the concepts of gross credited value and net realized proceeds. The value of an auxiliary coin at the moment of crediting can differ substantially from its value once converted, particularly for coins with lower liquidity, where larger sales can move the market price. ViaBTC's documentation on profit calculation explains how theoretical yield, actual block rewards, and payout method interact to determine what is ultimately credited to an account, and is a useful reference for understanding why credited amounts can differ from simple theoretical estimates (ViaBTC Help Center: How Are Profits Calculated).

Frequently Asked Questions

Does merged mining reduce my primary-coin rewards?

No. Merged mining is designed so that the same proof-of-work submission can be valid for both the parent chain and a compatible auxiliary chain, without requiring the miner to divide hashrate between two separate mining processes for the primary coin.

Do I need separate hardware to mine the auxiliary coin?

Generally no, provided the auxiliary chain uses a compatible hashing algorithm and the pool supports the merged-mining arrangement. For example, directing Scrypt hashrate to an LTC pool that supports DOGE merged mining does not require separate Dogecoin-specific mining hardware, because the pool handles the AuxPoW submission process.

Is the auxiliary reward paid under the same method as my primary coin?

Not necessarily. On ViaBTC, LTC miners can choose PPS+ or PPLNS for LTC, but DOGE, BELLS, PEP, and DINGO rewards are distributed under PPLNS regardless of which LTC payout method is selected. Always confirm the specific payout rule for each auxiliary coin rather than assuming it matches the primary coin's method.

How often are auxiliary rewards settled?

Settlement cadence is set by the pool and can differ from the primary coin's payout schedule. ViaBTC's documentation states that DOGE, BELLS, PEP, and DINGO rewards for LTC miners are distributed every two hours; this describes settlement timing, not a guaranteed amount per settlement.

Can I calculate my expected merged-mining income in advance?

Yes, as an indicative estimate. Estimate the auxiliary-coin rewards for a chosen period using your expected hashrate, current network difficulty and block rewards, and the applicable pool payout rules and fees. Value those rewards and the estimated primary-coin rewards at current prices to calculate a projected uplift. Because block discovery, pool luck, difficulty, and prices can change, the result is not guaranteed. After the period ends, use actual credited rewards valued when received to measure the actual mining-revenue uplift, and track later sale proceeds separately.

Conclusion

Merged mining can provide a real additional revenue stream by allowing compatible proof-of-work submissions to be credited on more than one chain, but it does not correspond to a fixed uplift percentage. The amount varies with the auxiliary chain's block economics, the pool's accounting rules, and market prices. Current-condition estimates can help miners plan, while completed-period reward records show what they actually earned. To measure the extra mining revenue, compare the combined auxiliary-coin rewards with primary-coin rewards over the same period, valuing both when credited. Keep later sale proceeds, applicable conversion costs, and post-receipt price gains or losses separate from that comparison.

References

• ViaBTC Help Center, "What Is Merged Mining"
• ViaBTC Help Center, "LTC Merged Mining Coins Mining Tutorial"
• ViaBTC Help Center, "How Are Profits Calculated"
• CoinGecko, Dogecoin Historical Data