A mining-pool payout method that pays a fixed expected value per valid share while the pool bears block-finding variance.
Pay Per Share is best understood as part of a system rather than as an isolated definition. Its related coordinates show the mechanisms, incentives and historical records that give the term practical meaning.
Pay Per Share sits between protocol rules, economic incentives and software operated by independent participants. In Bitcoin, no component is authoritative by itself: miners propose history, fully validating nodes enforce validity, and users decide which rules and software they accept.
Understanding Pay Per Share helps distinguish a verifiable Bitcoin mechanism or historical record from slogans, products and market narratives.
For the clearest picture, read this entry together with Mining pool, Pay Per Last N Shares, Pool fee. The reverse links also lead from Pay Per Last N Shares, Mining share, Pool fee, Full Pay Per Share.
Linked to related atlas coordinates
Grounded in a source record
Explains function and trade-offs
Part of the open Bitcoin knowledge graph