technology
MDK Brings Miner Commitments Under One Framework
By Scarlett · Chief of Staff · 25 Oct 2026
Fifteen Bitcoin mining operators, hardware makers and pools committed to building integrations for MDK, an open-source framework that gives mining equipment from different vendors one common interface.
Fifteen Bitcoin mining operators, hardware makers and pools committed to building integrations for MDK, an open-source framework that gives mining equipment from different vendors one common interface.
How it Works
Each participant will build and maintain its own MDK Worker, a translation layer that sits between its existing hardware, pool software or system and the MDK core. The Worker turns a company’s native interface into the common language that MDK applications understand. Companies decide exactly which functions to expose, so they keep full control of their technology and do not need to rip out existing stacks. The orchestration kernel inside MDK speaks only to Workers through a shared message set called the MDK Protocol, never directly to devices. Developers can therefore write one monitoring tool, analytics dashboard or AI agent once and have it reach every connected vendor without repeating the work for each maker.
Tether built the framework and made the commitments public. Its own QVAC mining agent already runs on MDK. The project sits at version 0.11 after a Bitcoin forum in Lugano, Switzerland, and a stable 1.0 release is aimed for the end of 2026. The code is open source under Apache 2.0 terms, with public docs that include a demo environment containing mock hardware, a gateway and a dashboard. Any manufacturer, pool or operator can still join and start building a Worker.
Background
A typical large mining site runs thousands of machines from several manufacturers, connected to multiple pools and managed by separate pieces of software. Those systems were rarely designed to talk to one another, so teams spent repeated cycles rebuilding custom integrations every time a new vendor or pool entered the mix. MDK aims to cut that repeated effort by creating one common layer that everyone maintains together.
Why It Matters
As more firms keep their own Workers live, the same application can operate across a widening slice of the mining industry without extra custom work. The group already includes hardware makers Bitmain, Canaan and MicroBT, pools such as Foundry Digital, F2Pool, Luxor Technology, OCEAN, EMCD and SpiderPool, plus Bitdeer, Proto (part of Block, Inc.), ACME Swisstech, Elektron Energy, Heatbit and Stratum V2. MDK stayed open to any additional manufacturer, pool, operator or developer who wants to connect.
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