Welcome to The 256 Foundation! 👋

General
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Welcome to the 256 Foundation Forum — the home for developers, contributors, researchers, miners, and anyone who believes Bitcoin mining should be free, open, and accessible to everyone.

You’re not just joining a forum. You’re joining a mission.

The Mission

The 256 Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit on a mission to dismantle the proprietary mining empire — the closed-source hardware and software stack that has put the infrastructure securing Bitcoin in the hands of a single hostile actor. We’re building the open alternative, piece by piece, from the silicon up.

An open protocol deserves an open stack. This forum is where that work happens in public.

What We’re Building

This forum is organized around the projects we fund and develop. Here’s the lay of the land:

  • General — You’re here. Announcements, ideas, open mining discussion, and anything that doesn’t fit neatly into a project category.
  • Ember One Hashboard — Open-source ~100W Bitcoin mining hashboard. Standardized form factor, multi-ASIC, 12–24VDC, USB-C. Fork it, build it, improve it. Hardware design files on GitHub.
  • Mujina Firmware — Open-source Bitcoin mining firmware written in Rust. Linux-based, Stratum V2 support, no closed parameters, no dev fees. You read every line. GitHub.
  • Libre Control Board — Open-source mining control board. Runs a full Bitcoin node, Stratum server, and your hashboards. Swappable compute modules (ARM, RISC-V). GitHub.
  • Hydrapool — One-click deployable, self-hostable Bitcoin mining pool. Solo and PPLNS modes. Payouts direct from coinbase — no custodied funds. Test it now: point a miner at stratum+tcp://pool.256foundation.org:3333. GitHub.
  • asic-rs — Rust library for unified ASIC management. One API for Antminer, Whatsminer, Avalon, Bitaxe, Braiins, and more. Available on crates.io.
  • Site Feedback — Questions, suggestions, or issues about this forum itself.

Each category has an About topic pinned at the top with more detail on what belongs there.

Whether You’re a Developer, a Miner, or Just Curious

You’re welcome here regardless of where you’re starting from. You don’t have to post to participate — lurk as long as you like, read the threads, absorb the build logs. When you’re ready to engage, we’d love to hear from you.

If you want to introduce yourself or share what you’re working on, drop a reply here or start a topic in General. Tell us what you’re building, what you’re mining with, what problem you’re trying to solve — or just say hello.

Get Involved

There are many ways to be part of what we’re building:

  • :computer: Contribute code — All of our projects live on GitHub. Pull requests, issues, and reviews are always welcome.
  • :wrench: Test the hardware and firmware — Build an Ember One, flash Mujina, spin up a Hydra Pool instance. Feedback from real-world testing drives development.
  • :speech_balloon: Join the group chat — Day-to-day discussion happens on Telegram. Come say hi.
  • :microphone: Listen to POD256 — Our weekly podcast covers open-source Bitcoin mining, energy, and freedom tech. Find all episodes at 256foundation.org.
  • :newspaper: Stay in the loop — Follow us on X and Nostr, and subscribe to our newsletter for updates, events, and build highlights.
  • :orange_heart: Support the mission — The 256 Foundation is funded entirely by donations. Every contribution goes directly to developer grants. Donate here.

Guidelines

This is a technical community built on respect and shared purpose. Be direct, be constructive, and criticize ideas — not people. The full FAQ/Guidelines and Terms of Service are worth a read.

For moderation concerns, reach out to admin@256foundation.org or Signal: tylerkstevens.97.

We’re glad you’re here. Now let’s build.

— The 256 Foundation Team

About the Site Feedback category