Valid Share is a correct computational result that satisfies the configured share difficulty and the other requirements of the current mining job. After verification, the result is accepted by the pool and can be used when calculating the participant’s reward.

Valid shares are one of the primary mechanisms used to measure a participant’s contribution in Pool Mining. Since full blocks are found relatively rarely, a pool needs a more frequent way to verify that connected equipment is actually performing work.

What the Pool Verifies

  • that the result belongs to the current job;
  • that the computed value is correct;
  • that the result meets the configured difficulty;
  • that the result is not a duplicate;
  • that the underlying job is still valid.

Valid Shares and Payouts

Accepted shares can be used differently by different payout systems. Under PPS, for example, each accepted share has a calculated value. Under PPLNS, the participant’s contribution is measured within a defined window of recent shares.

Therefore, a valid share does not have one universal fixed monetary value. Its economic value depends on share difficulty, payout scheme, network conditions, and the specific rules of the pool.