What Is ‘Pool Hopping’ and Why Do Miners Engage in It?

Pool hopping is a strategy where miners frequently switch between different mining pools to maximize short-term profit. They typically jump to pools that have just found a block but have not yet adjusted their reward sharing to reflect the higher luck.

Miners aim to capture a disproportionately large share of the reward before the pool's luck reverts to the mean. This can destabilize pool dynamics.