Bitcoin mining pools play a crucial role in the Bitcoin network by allowing multiple miners to combine their computational resources in order to increase their chances of successfully mining a new block and earning the associated reward. This pooling of resources helps smaller miners to compete with larger mining operations and provides a more consistent stream of income.
However, the rise of mining pools has also raised concerns about the centralization of mining power. Some large mining pools have amassed significant control over the network's hash rate,_
