Introducing StratumX: Fast, Non-Custodial, Non-KYC, Zero-Fee Solo Mining Infrastructure Optimized for Quai Network
Solo mining has always been a tradeoff. Either join a pool and pay fees and give up autonomy or mine alone and accept long odds with inconsistent rewards.
StratumX fixes that.
StratumX is Quai Network’s new distributed stratum infrastructure, enabling SHA-256, Scrypt, and KawPow miners to mine Quai directly, without pools, fees, or KYC. It’s self-custodial by design, compatible with standard stratum mining software, and optimized to achieve maximum output for every algorithm, turning solo mining into a consistent, professional-grade experience.
StratumX is now live! You can view it here: https://stratumx.org
What Is StratumX?
StratumX combines the stratum protocol directly into the go-quai node.
Instead of running separate pool software or connecting to a centralized service, miners can either enable StratumX on their own node with new flags or freely connect to an existing StratumX endpoint.
StratumX nodes form a decentralized mesh of high-performance stratum servers operated by independent node runners around the world. If you’d like to run a StratumX-enabled node and join the network, reach out to the team in the Quai Discord for onboarding and configuration help.
Miners connect using standard stratum-compatible software and receive jobs derived from pending Quai headers. All valid work is credited onchain, and 100% of rewards are paid directly to the miner’s configured address with no pool fees and no third-party custody. Available as SOLO, PPS payouts.
In the next stage, StratumX is designed to become fully permissionless as the network grows, with tooling to help node runners configure sustainable earning streams for their infrastructure.
Solo Mining on SHA-256, KawPow, and Scrypt with StratumX
Traditional Proof-of-Work mining relies on pools because variance makes solo mining impractical. For most networks, block rewards are all-or-nothing: either you find a block or you get nothing. Quai workshare system was designed to address this while also improving network security.
With the improved version of PoW consensus called Proof-of-Entropy-Minima (PoEM), Quai measures and rewards all valid work, not just full blocks. Even a single ASIC or GPU contributes measurable security weight and earns proportional rewards.
StratumX exposes and optimizes this capability through the stratum protocol miners already know without forcing them into pools. With the latest merge-mining support addition, this is now extended beyond GPU mining with KawPow to SHA-256 and Scrypt miners of all sizes.
How It Works
Every Quai node includes a built-in stratum-compatible server.
When StratumX is enabled, the node translates standard stratum mining jobs into Quai workshares derived from pending block headers. Miners submit valid shares at workshare difficulty, and those shares are recorded and rewarded proportionally by the network.
Operationally, mining feels familiar: point your ASIC or GPU miner at a StratumX endpoint and mine as usual.
Note: Make sure to use a dedicated QUAI wallet, such as Pelagus Wallet, QUAI CLI wallet, or Tangem hardware wallet. Exchange addresses are not supported for StratumX mining.
Supported Hardware and Algorithms
StratumX supports multi-algorithm mining, enabled by Quai’s merged-mining architecture and the SOAP upgrade.
SHA-256 ASICs (BCH or BTC hardware), Scrypt ASICs (LTC and DOGE hardware), and KawPow GPUs (RVN hardware) can all participate in securing the collective PoW system at the same time.
This allows diverse hardware to contribute meaningfully without competing for a single difficulty target or relying on pooled hashpower.
Mining Rewards Optimization
Most mining setups, especially pool-based ones, offer little to no control over reward composition. On Quai, miners can actively configure their payout strategy based on network conditions and personal goals.
Quai is a dual-token network, and miners control what they’re paid in.
- QUAI is an account-based, EVM-compatible utility asset used for smart contracts, DeFi, and general network activity. Its issuance follows a logarithmic curve, making it more attractive to mine when hashrate is low or expected to grow.
- QI is a UTXO-based, energy-backed asset designed for everyday transactions with cash-like privacy. Its issuance scales with energy costs, making it more attractive when hashrate is high or when you want to avoid QUAI volatility.
The configurability of rewards payouts in QUAI vs. QI gives miners a strategic flexibility when optimizing for revenue, privacy, or long-term network participation.
Public Endpoints or Your Own Node
You can run your own StratumX-enabled node or connect to one of the public StratumX endpoints operated by independent node runners.
In both cases, the model stays the same: your keys, your hardware, your rewards.
Whether you choose to run the infra yourself or mine through a public endpoint, there are no pool fees, no custody tradeoffs, and no loss of control. Rewards are paid directly to your configured address, and access remains permissionless for miners.
Conclusion
StratumX is the next step in the evolution to Proof-of-Work. It removes mandatory pooling, replaces centralized trust with protocol-level coordination, optimizes rewards for all contributed work, and enables miners of any size to participate meaningfully in network security.
Solo mining SHA-256, Scrypt, and KawPow is officially back.