🏭 Mining pools and censorship worries — who decides what gets into a block? Most miners don’t mine alone; they join pools to smooth out rewards. That’s fine. But here’s the catch: pools help pick which transactions go into each block. If a few giant pools control most of the hash power, they can be pressured to leave out certain transactions because of laws, politics, or company policy. That’s a problem. Bitcoin is supposed to be open to anyone who follows the rules, not just whoever a pool likes. Ask yourself: if a handful of pool operators become the gatekeepers between miners and users, do we quietly end up with “protocol policy” decided by companies instead of the community? No vote, just a memo. What can you do about it? If you mine, pick pools that commit to including all valid transactions. Don’t just read their homepage—look for proof and community reports. Split your hash across multiple pools so no single operator has all your power. Support Stratum V2 with Job Negotiation; that lets individual miners (not just the pool) help choose the transactions. If you rent hash power or use cloud services, choose providers that are transparent and pro-freedom. If you don’t mine, you still matter. Run your own Bitcoin node to verify your own transactions and the rules of the network. Use wallets and services that respect open access. Pay attention when the community flags censorship events—sunlight changes behavior. The network stays free only if users demand it, watch it, and choose tools that line up with those values. Bottom line: decentralization isn’t just a buzzword. It’s the difference between a network that anyone can use and a system that quietly nudges people out. Pick tools and pools that keep the door open. #grownostr #newstr #Bitcoin #Mining #CensorshipResistance #Decentralization