Tether's open-source MDK gets 15 backers: which Antminer, Whatsminer and Avalon models it already supports
On October 24 Tether announced that 15 mining operators, ASIC makers and pools have committed to building and maintaining integrations with its Mining Development Kit (MDK). MDK is an open-source framework meant to give software one common way to talk to a Bitcoin mining site, instead of a separate integration for every manufacturer, pool and management tool.
What MDK actually does
A large farm often runs machines from several vendors, connected to different pools and managed by different software. Under MDK each company writes an MDK Worker: a translation layer that turns its own interface into a common language. Apps, monitoring systems and AI agents are then built once against MDK. Vendors do not have to replace their firmware or hand over control; they only expose the functions they choose.
Tether says its own QVAC mining agent already runs directly on MDK. Version 0.11 was scheduled for the Plan ₿ Forum in Lugano on October 23 and 24, and the first stable 1.0 release is targeted for the end of 2026. The code is already public in the tetherto/mdk repository.
Who signed up
The list covers both hardware and pools: ACME Swisstech, Bitdeer, BITMAIN, Canaan, Elektron Energy, EMCD, F2Pool, Foundry Digital, Heatbit, Luxor Technology, MicroBT, OCEAN, Proto (Block), SpiderPool, Stratum V2.
Which hardware and pools are supported today
The supported hardware page in the MDK docs lists these Workers so far:
- Antminer (Bitmain): S19XP, S19XPH, S21 and S21PRO, controlled over the HTTP digest API.
- Whatsminer (MicroBT): M30S+, Whatsminer M30S++, M53S, M56S and M63.
- Avalon (Canaan): Avalon A1346, controlled over the CGMiner ASCII API.
- Containers: Bitmain Antspace HK3 and IMM, Bitdeer D40 variants, MicroBT KEHUA and WONDERINT.
- Power meters and sensors: ABB, SATEC, Schneider Electric and Seneca.
- Pools: F2Pool and OCEAN, both for BTC only.
The pool Workers are read-only reporters. The F2Pool Worker uses the pool's REST API with an account API secret and returns hashrate, online workers, unpaid balance and estimated daily earnings. It does not switch pools or change payout settings.
What it means for miners right now
- MDK is still pre-1.0. The docs themselves flag several Worker contracts, including the Antminer, Avalon, F2Pool and OCEAN ones, as not yet conforming to the MDK schema, so expect breaking changes.
- For a home miner with a few units nothing changes today: firmware, pool and payouts stay the same.
- For operators with mixed Antminer, Whatsminer and Avalon fleets, MDK is worth watching as a possible free alternative to building in-house dashboards for each vendor, especially once more pools publish Workers.
- If you test it, keep pool API secrets and miner passwords on your own infrastructure and give Workers only the access they need.
The real test will come with 1.0: whether the remaining partners, such as Foundry, Luxor, SpiderPool and EMCD, ship their own Workers, and whether third-party tools start building on the common layer.