XBT (BTCB2) Bloqueo de 45 días de las recompensas de minería: qué significa para los mineros, los pools, las plataformas de intercambio y la red.

For XBT miners, the biggest change this month is not the price. It is the waiting time.

Bitcoin Knots 29.4.2 introduced a temporary 6,480-block maturity period for new mining rewards on the Bitcoin BLAKE2b network, commonly called Bitcoin BIP110, BTCB2 or XBT. At the network’s ten-minute target, that is roughly 45 days before affected coinbase outputs can be spent.

That has led to understandable reports that “XBT withdrawals are restricted.” The phrase is directionally useful but technically incomplete. Miners can still receive rewards, and ordinary spendable wallet balances are not frozen by this consensus rule. What changes is when newly mined coins become spendable—and that delay can spread through pools, exchanges, market liquidity and miner cash flow.

This article explains what the rule does, what it does not do, and the long-term consequences if XBT keeps using extended reward locks.

What Changed on the XBT/BTCB2 Network?

The change is documented in the project’s official mining guide y en Bitcoin Knots pull request #419. Enforcement began at block 973,440. Coinbase outputs created from that height must wait 6,480 confirmations before they can be spent. The temporary deployment ends around block 979,920.

At block 973,908 on September 24, about 6,012 blocks remained. If blocks arrived exactly every ten minutes, the end would fall roughly 42 days later. Real block production can be faster or slower, so miners should follow block height rather than a calendar countdown.

There are three details worth separating:

• New mining rewards: coinbase outputs covered by the deployment are locked for 6,480 blocks.
• Older coinbase outputs: consensus rules do not retroactively change rewards mined before activation, although the 29.4.2 wallet and mempool policy can apply the longer wait more broadly.
• Ordinary coins: non-coinbase outputs that were already spendable are not locked by this rule.

That is why one exchange may continue processing withdrawals while a miner cannot spend today’s reward. The exchange may be paying from an older hot-wallet balance. It may also decide to suspend withdrawals voluntarily until it confirms that its node, wallet and accounting systems follow the same chain.

Why the Project Introduced a 45-Day Reward Lock

The stated aim is to discourage short-term or “mercenary” hashrate: miners who arrive when the price is attractive, sell rewards quickly and leave when another BLAKE2b chain pays more. A longer maturity period asks miners to carry network exposure for several weeks instead of treating the chain as an instant cash market.

There is a reasonable argument behind that design. Stable hashrate can make block production more predictable, and miners with a longer time horizon may be more willing to run their own node, monitor the network and spread hashrate between independent pools.

But a lock does not create loyalty for free. It transfers the cost of stability to miners. Electricity, hosting and payroll still have to be paid during the waiting period. Operators with weak cash reserves may leave, while larger farms and better-capitalized pools gain an advantage. A rule intended to improve network quality can therefore reduce participation or increase concentration if the burden is too high.

The Real Cost Is Working Capital, Not Just Electricity

Mining calculators normally compare daily revenue with daily power cost. During a 45-day reward lock, that view is incomplete. Even a profitable machine needs enough cash to fund electricity while its rewards remain unspendable.

The table below uses nameplate power and an illustrative electricity rate of $ 0.07 / kWh. It does not include cooling, hosting, pool fees, downtime or financing costs.

Multiply those numbers by the size of the farm. One hundred BM-S3+ units would require about $25,704 for 45 days of electricity at the same rate, before other operating expenses. The machine can be profitable on paper and still create a cash-flow problem.

The safer calculation is:

real operating buffer = electricity + cooling/hosting + pool fees + debt payments + a delay margin

Miners should not treat an immature pool balance as cash. They should also avoid using a quoted XBT price as guaranteed revenue. Thin order books, wide spreads and withdrawal delays can reduce what is actually realizable.

How the Lock Could Change Mining Pool Concentration

The effect depends on how a pool pays.

A direct-coinbase pool such as B2Pool places the miner’s address in the block reward. The miner avoids a pool-held balance, but the received output still cannot be spent until it reaches maturity.

A conventional custodial pool can choose to credit miners immediately and pay from its own reserves. That feels better to the miner, but the pool is effectively financing the 45-day gap. It assumes chain, price and liquidity risk. Small pools may not have enough treasury to compete with a large operator offering smooth daily payments.

This creates a paradox. Extended maturity may discourage opportunistic hashrate, but it can also push miners toward the best-funded pool. If the network is already worried about one pool controlling too much hashrate, financing advantages can make that problem harder—not easier—to solve.

Before switching pools, ask whether payouts are direct coinbase outputs, delayed until maturity, or advanced from the pool’s treasury. Then verify recent blocks and actual payments. Our BTCB2 mining pool guide explains the main connection models and why spreading hashrate across independent operators matters.

What It Means for Exchanges and XBT Liquidity

The lock reduces the flow of newly mined coins into the market during the test period. In the short term, that may reduce immediate selling. It can also make price discovery less reliable because less fresh supply is available and a larger share of trading depends on existing holders and exchange inventory.

Exchanges face operational questions too. They must run compatible node software, identify the accepted chain and avoid crediting a transaction that later conflicts with their policy. A BLAKE2b Miner node operator reported rejected spends during the first day as some wallets attempted to use rewards under the old 100-block assumption. That is a useful field observation, not a complete audit of the network.

When checked on September 24, the public API at NonKYC showed BTCB2 deposits and withdrawals active, and SafeTrade’s status page showed XBT deposits and withdrawals enabled. Those pages can change at any time. Always make a small test withdrawal before sending a meaningful amount.

A second risk appears near the end of the temporary deployment. Many rewards mined during the locked period may become spendable around the same height. That does not guarantee a sell-off, but it creates an unlock overhang: miners who have carried costs for weeks may choose to sell as soon as they can. Traders and pools should expect wider volatility and avoid assuming that reduced supply during the lock is permanent.

The Long-Term Issue Is Governance

The 45-day period is described in the merged proposal as “part 1 of 3.” The discussion points to a possible future extension to one year and, more controversially, to differentiating between miners who construct blocks and miners who submit work through ordinary Stratum pools.

That roadmap matters more than the temporary lock itself. Mining hardware is a multi-year investment. Operators can adapt to a known rule, but frequent changes to reward spendability make it harder to price machines, sign hosting contracts or choose pools.

For the project, credibility will depend on process:

• Are changes announced with enough time for miners, pools and exchanges to upgrade?
• Is there broad agreement among node operators, or are incompatible policies creating rejected transactions and chain confusion?
• Can smaller pools compete without maintaining a large financing reserve?
• Are the rules neutral and technically verifiable, rather than dependent on favored intermediaries?

If the answers improve, the lock could become a controlled experiment in attracting committed hashrate. If they do not, miners may conclude that the rules can change faster than their capital can move. That would damage trust, reduce hashrate and weaken the network the policy was meant to protect.

Three Possible Outcomes

What XBT Miners Should Do Now

1. Verify your node. Use Bitcoin Knots 29.4.2 and check deployment status rather than relying on a pool banner.
2. Ask how your pool pays. Confirm whether rewards are direct coinbase outputs, held until maturity or advanced from pool reserves.
3. Budget at least 45 days of operating cash. Add cooling, hosting and an extra delay margin.
4. Check the full payout path. Confirm accepted shares, a wallet receipt, the correct exchange network and a small withdrawal.
5. Do not confuse XBT labels. Some services use XBT for ordinary Bitcoin. Match the chain, not just the ticker.
6. Keep a Siacoin fallback. Preserve a tested SC pool profile so compatible BLAKE2b machines can move if XBT economics or access deteriorate. See our XBT/BTCB2 vs Siacoin comparison.
7. Spread hashrate deliberately. Compare independent pool operators and avoid concentrating a whole farm in one place.

Resumen Final

The current XBT/BTCB2 issue is best understood as a 45-day mining reward maturity rule, not a universal withdrawal shutdown. The distinction matters, but it does not make the risk small.

The lock changes miner cash flow, gives well-funded pools an advantage, complicates exchange operations and creates a possible supply release near the end of the deployment. Its long-term success will depend less on whether price rises during the lock and more on whether the network can make changes transparently, keep pools competitive and give miners predictable rules.

For now, operators should size XBT exposure according to working capital—not headline profitability—and keep a tested Siacoin route available. If you are evaluating the BM-S3+, BM-S3, SC5 Pro II, SC5 Pro or SC Lite, Contacte con BT-Miners to match power capacity and pool setup to the exact unit.

Divulgación: BT-Miners sells the mining hardware linked above. This article is operational analysis, not financial advice or a guarantee of compatibility, revenue, liquidity or payback. Network, pool and exchange status can change quickly; details were checked September 24, 2026.