PPLNS (Pay Per Last N Shares)

PPLNS pays only when the pool finds blocks, splitting each reward over a sliding window of recent shares. Income tracks real pool luck: lean weeks and lucky streaks both pass through to miners. Fees are lower than FPPS (often 0.5–1%) because the pool bears no variance risk.

PPLNS also discourages pool-hopping, since new arrivals must fill the share window before earning fully. Over long periods, expected earnings equal FPPS minus the fee difference — the choice is purely about who holds the variance.