Stratum V1 vs V2: Every Difference That Matters

Published July 23, 2026, 07:00 UTC

Two versions of the mining protocol are in the wild today. Stratum V1 is the plaintext JSON protocol from 2012 that almost everything still runs on, and Stratum V2 is the encrypted binary redesign built to replace it. This is a point-by-point comparison of what actually differs, so you can decide which to run. If you want the deeper background on either, start with what the Stratum protocol is and Stratum V2 explained.

The comparison at a glance

Feature	Stratum V1	Stratum V2
Encoding	Plaintext JSON	Compact binary
Encryption	None (TLS optional)	Built in (Noise)
Pool authentication	None	Authority public key
Bandwidth	Higher	Much lower
Job declaration	Not supported	Supported
Hardware support	Universal	Growing

1. Encryption: readable vs sealed

This is the headline difference. V1 is plaintext, so your payout address and every share travel readable across every network between you and the pool. V2 wraps the entire session in the Noise protocol, the same cryptography family behind WireGuard, so an eavesdropper sees only ciphertext. On V1 you can get equivalent transport security by adding TLS; on V2 it is simply always on.

2. Pool authentication: trust vs proof

V1 has no way to prove you reached the real pool. A man-in-the-middle can impersonate it and silently steal your hashrate. V2 fixes this cryptographically: the pool publishes an authority public key, your miner pins it, and during the handshake the pool proves it holds the matching private key. Impersonation fails by maths, not by you noticing. TLS on V1 helps here too via certificates, but authentication is native to V2.

3. Binary vs JSON: bandwidth and speed

V1's verbose JSON with hex payloads is easy to read but wasteful. V2's binary framing shrinks a share submission to a fraction of its size. On a single Bitaxe you will never notice, but across a farm the bandwidth savings are real, and more importantly, smaller messages plus a leaner protocol mean new jobs reach your miner faster after each block is found.

4. Stale shares: the practical payoff

When a new block appears, every second your miner keeps hashing the old job is wasted: those are stale shares that can never pay. Because V2 delivers the new job faster, that stale window shrinks. It is a small percentage, but it is free, and it compounds across many machines. This is the closest thing V2 has to a direct earnings benefit, and we dig into it in our guide on renting hashrate over Stratum V2.

5. Job declaration: who picks the transactions

Under V1 the pool always decides which transactions go in the block. V2 defines job declaration, letting miners construct and declare their own block templates. That pushes transaction selection back toward the edge of the network, which is good for decentralisation. The protocol is ready for it and deployments are rolling it out across the ecosystem.

6. Hardware support: the one point for V1

V1's single genuine advantage is ubiquity: every miner ever made speaks it. V2 support is growing, led by firmware like Braiins OS, and older hardware can join V2 through a translation proxy that speaks V2 to the pool and V1 to the device. So V1's ubiquity is real but no longer a blocker.

Which should you run in 2026?

Firmware speaks V2: use V2. You get encryption, authentication, and faster jobs for negligible cost.
Firmware is V1 only, trusted network: plain V1 is workable, but adding TLS costs nothing and closes the big holes.
Firmware is V1 only, untrusted network: use TLS now, or run an SV2 translator for the full protocol.

mkpool runs all three side by side, so whichever rung you are on, there is a port for it. Check your chain's connect page for the V1, TLS, and V2 ports, and read what solo mining is if you are still deciding how to point your hardware.

Frequently asked questions

What is the main difference between Stratum V1 and V2?

Security and efficiency. Stratum V1 sends everything as readable JSON with no encryption and no way to verify the pool. Stratum V2 encrypts the whole session with Noise, cryptographically authenticates the pool, and uses compact binary messages that use less bandwidth and deliver jobs faster.

Is Stratum V2 faster than V1?

In practice, yes, where it counts. Binary framing shrinks messages to a fraction of their JSON size, so new jobs propagate faster after each block. Faster job switching means your miner spends less time hashing stale work, which slightly reduces wasted shares, especially across large fleets.

Does Stratum V2 replace TLS?

For encryption, yes: V2's Noise layer already secures the session, so you do not add TLS on top. TLS remains the practical upgrade for hardware that only speaks V1, giving you encryption without changing protocols. V2 goes further by also authenticating the pool and reworking the message format.

Can old miners use Stratum V2?

Indirectly. Hardware that only speaks V1 can sit behind a Stratum V2 translation proxy, which talks encrypted V2 upstream to the pool and plain V1 downstream to the miner. Firmware such as Braiins OS supports V2 natively, and support is spreading across the ecosystem.

Is Stratum V2 worth switching to?

If your firmware supports it, there is no real downside: you gain encryption, pool authentication, and slightly better job delivery for negligible CPU cost. If it does not, V1 over TLS is a quick way to get encryption today while native V2 support matures.

Does mkpool support both Stratum V1 and V2?

Yes. mkpool runs plain V1, V1 over TLS, and native Stratum V2 endpoints side by side on the SHA-256 chains, so you can pick whichever your hardware supports. The connect page for each chain lists the ports for all three.

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Stratum V1 vs V2: Every Difference That Matters

The comparison at a glance

1. Encryption: readable vs sealed

2. Pool authentication: trust vs proof

3. Binary vs JSON: bandwidth and speed

4. Stale shares: the practical payoff

5. Job declaration: who picks the transactions

6. Hardware support: the one point for V1

Which should you run in 2026?

Frequently asked questions

What is the main difference between Stratum V1 and V2?

Is Stratum V2 faster than V1?

Does Stratum V2 replace TLS?

Can old miners use Stratum V2?

Is Stratum V2 worth switching to?

Does mkpool support both Stratum V1 and V2?

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Comments

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Keep reading

Stratum V2 Explained: Encrypted, Faster Mining

Braiins Hashpower Solo Mining With Stratum V2

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The comparison at a glance

1. Encryption: readable vs sealed

2. Pool authentication: trust vs proof

3. Binary vs JSON: bandwidth and speed

4. Stale shares: the practical payoff

5. Job declaration: who picks the transactions

6. Hardware support: the one point for V1

Which should you run in 2026?

Comments

Leave a comment