diff --git a/cronjobs/payouts.php b/cronjobs/payouts.php
index b390fb38..87b5e119 100755
--- a/cronjobs/payouts.php
+++ b/cronjobs/payouts.php
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ if ($setting->getValue('disable_manual_payouts') != 1) {
         try {
           $txid = $bitcoin->sendtoaddress($aData['coin_address'], $dBalance - $config['txfee_manual']);
         } catch (Exception $e) {
-          $log->logError('Failed to send requested balance to coin address, please check payout process. Does the wallet cover the amount?');
+          $log->logError('Failed to send requested balance to coin address, please check payout process. Does the wallet cover the amount? Error:' . $e->getMessage());
           continue;
         }
 
diff --git a/public/include/classes/bitcoin.class.php b/public/include/classes/bitcoin.class.php
index d91d5fc2..f1512c70 100644
--- a/public/include/classes/bitcoin.class.php
+++ b/public/include/classes/bitcoin.class.php
@@ -229,24 +229,7 @@ class Bitcoin {
   }
 }
 
-/**
- * Exception class for BitcoinClient
- *
- * @author Mike Gogulski
- * 	http://www.gogulski.com/ http://www.nostate.com/
- */
-class BitcoinClientException extends ErrorException {
-  // Redefine the exception so message isn't optional
-  public function __construct($message, $code = 0, $severity = E_USER_NOTICE, Exception $previous = null) {
-    parent::__construct($message, $code, $severity, $previous);
-  }
-
-  public function __toString() {
-    return __CLASS__ . ": [{$this->code}]: {$this->message}\n";
-  }
-}
-
-require_once(INCLUDE_DIR . "/jsonRPCClient.php");
+require_once(INCLUDE_DIR . "/lib/jsonRPCClient.php");
 
 /**
  * Bitcoin client class for access to a Bitcoin server via JSON-RPC-HTTP[S]
@@ -283,21 +266,18 @@ class BitcoinClient extends jsonRPCClient {
    * @access public
    * @throws BitcoinClientException
    */
-  public function __construct($scheme, $username, $password, $address = "localhost", $port = 8332, $certificate_path = '', $debug_level = 0) {
+  public function __construct($scheme, $username, $password, $address = "localhost", $certificate_path = '', $debug = false) {
     $scheme = strtolower($scheme);
     if ($scheme != "http" && $scheme != "https")
-      throw new BitcoinClientException("Scheme must be http or https");
+      throw new Exception("Scheme must be http or https");
     if (empty($username))
-      throw new BitcoinClientException("Username must be non-blank");
+      throw new Exception("Username must be non-blank");
     if (empty($password))
-      throw new BitcoinClientException("Password must be non-blank");
-    $port = (string) $port;
-    if (!$port || empty($port) || !is_numeric($port) || $port < 1 || $port > 65535 || floatval($port) != intval($port))
-      throw new BitcoinClientException("Port must be an integer and between 1 and 65535");
+      throw new Exception("Password must be non-blank");
     if (!empty($certificate_path) && !is_readable($certificate_path))
-      throw new BitcoinClientException("Certificate file " . $certificate_path . " is not readable");
+      throw new Exception("Certificate file " . $certificate_path . " is not readable");
     $uri = $scheme . "://" . $username . ":" . $password . "@" . $address . "/";
-    parent::__construct($uri);
+    parent::__construct($uri, $debug);
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/public/include/classes/bitcoinwrapper.class.php b/public/include/classes/bitcoinwrapper.class.php
index ed4c09a8..b2167611 100644
--- a/public/include/classes/bitcoinwrapper.class.php
+++ b/public/include/classes/bitcoinwrapper.class.php
@@ -9,15 +9,16 @@ if (!defined('SECURITY'))
  * some basic caching functionality and some debugging
  **/
 class BitcoinWrapper extends BitcoinClient {
-  public function __construct($type, $username, $password, $host, $debug, $memcache) {
+  public function __construct($type, $username, $password, $host, $debug_level, $debug_object, $memcache) {
     $this->type = $type;
     $this->username = $username;
     $this->password = $password;
     $this->host = $host;
     // $this->debug is already used
-    $this->oDebug = $debug;
+    $this->oDebug = $debug_object;
     $this->memcache = $memcache;
-    return parent::__construct($this->type, $this->username, $this->password, $this->host);
+    $debug_level > 0 ? $debug_level = true : $debug_level = false;
+    return parent::__construct($this->type, $this->username, $this->password, $this->host, '', $debug_level);
   }
   /**
    * Wrap variouns methods to add caching
@@ -75,4 +76,4 @@ class BitcoinWrapper extends BitcoinClient {
 }
 
 // Load this wrapper
-$bitcoin = new BitcoinWrapper($config['wallet']['type'], $config['wallet']['username'], $config['wallet']['password'], $config['wallet']['host'], $debug, $memcache);
+$bitcoin = new BitcoinWrapper($config['wallet']['type'], $config['wallet']['username'], $config['wallet']['password'], $config['wallet']['host'], DEBUG, $debug, $memcache);
diff --git a/public/include/jsonRPCClient.php b/public/include/jsonRPCClient.php
deleted file mode 100644
index 2100578f..00000000
--- a/public/include/jsonRPCClient.php
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,167 +0,0 @@
-<?php
-/*
-					COPYRIGHT
-
-Copyright 2007 Sergio Vaccaro <sergio@inservibile.org>
-
-This file is part of JSON-RPC PHP.
-
-JSON-RPC PHP is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
-it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
-the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
-(at your option) any later version.
-
-JSON-RPC PHP is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
-but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
-MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
-GNU General Public License for more details.
-
-You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
-along with JSON-RPC PHP; if not, write to the Free Software
-Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301  USA
-*/
-
-/**
- * The object of this class are generic jsonRPC 1.0 clients
- * http://json-rpc.org/wiki/specification
- *
- * @author sergio <jsonrpcphp@inservibile.org>
- */
-class jsonRPCClient {
-	
-	/**
-	 * Debug state
-	 *
-	 * @var boolean
-	 */
-	private $debug;
-	
-	/**
-	 * The server URL
-	 *
-	 * @var string
-	 */
-	private $url;
-	/**
-	 * The request id
-	 *
-	 * @var integer
-	 */
-	private $id;
-	/**
-	 * If true, notifications are performed instead of requests
-	 *
-	 * @var boolean
-	 */
-	private $notification = false;
-	
-	/**
-	 * Takes the connection parameters
-	 *
-	 * @param string $url
-	 * @param boolean $debug
-	 */
-	public function __construct($url,$debug = false) {
-		// server URL
-		$this->url = $url;
-		// proxy
-		empty($proxy) ? $this->proxy = '' : $this->proxy = $proxy;
-		// debug state
-		empty($debug) ? $this->debug = false : $this->debug = true;
-		// message id
-		$this->id = 1;
-	}
-	
-	/**
-	 * Sets the notification state of the object. In this state, notifications are performed, instead of requests.
-	 *
-	 * @param boolean $notification
-	 */
-	public function setRPCNotification($notification) {
-		empty($notification) ?
-							$this->notification = false
-							:
-							$this->notification = true;
-	}
-	
-	/**
-	 * Performs a jsonRCP request and gets the results as an array
-	 *
-	 * @param string $method
-	 * @param array $params
-	 * @return array
-	 */
-	public function __call($method,$params) {
-		
-		// check
-		if (!is_scalar($method)) {
-			throw new Exception('Method name has no scalar value');
-		}
-		
-		// check
-		if (is_array($params)) {
-			// no keys
-			$params = array_values($params);
-		} else {
-			throw new Exception('Params must be given as array');
-		}
-		
-		// sets notification or request task
-		if ($this->notification) {
-			$currentId = NULL;
-		} else {
-			$currentId = $this->id;
-		}
-		
-		// prepares the request
-		$request = array(
-						'method' => $method,
-						'params' => $params,
-						'id' => $currentId
-						);
-		$request = json_encode($request);
-		$this->debug && $this->debug.='***** Request *****'."\n".$request."\n".'***** End Of request *****'."\n\n";
-		
-		// performs the HTTP POST
-		$opts = array ('http' => array (
-							'method'  => 'POST',
-							'header'  => 'Content-type: application/json',
-							'content' => $request
-							));
-		$context  = stream_context_create($opts);
-		if ($fp = @fopen($this->url, 'r', false, $context)) {
-			$response = '';
-			while($row = fgets($fp)) {
-				$response.= trim($row)."\n";
-			}
-			$this->debug && $this->debug.='***** Server response *****'."\n".$response.'***** End of server response *****'."\n";
-			$response = json_decode($response,true);
-		} else {
-      $error = error_get_last();
-      $error = explode(']: ', $error['message']);
-			throw new Exception('Unable to connect: ' . $error[1]);
-		}
-		
-		// debug output
-		if ($this->debug) {
-			echo nl2br($debug);
-		}
-		
-		// final checks and return
-		if (!$this->notification) {
-			// check
-			if ($response['id'] != $currentId) {
-				throw new Exception('Incorrect response id (request id: '.$currentId.', response id: '.$response['id'].')');
-			}
-			if (!is_null($response['error'])) {
-				throw new Exception('Request error: '.$response['error']);
-			}
-			
-			return $response['result'];
-			
-		} else {
-			return true;
-		}
-	}
-}
-?>
diff --git a/public/include/lib/jsonRPCClient.php b/public/include/lib/jsonRPCClient.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f25fb0b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/public/include/lib/jsonRPCClient.php
@@ -0,0 +1,127 @@
+<?php
+/*
+          COPYRIGHT
+
+Copyright 2007 Sergio Vaccaro <sergio@inservibile.org>
+
+This file is part of JSON-RPC PHP.
+
+JSON-RPC PHP is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
+(at your option) any later version.
+
+JSON-RPC PHP is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+GNU General Public License for more details.
+
+You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+along with JSON-RPC PHP; if not, write to the Free Software
+Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301  USA
+ */
+
+/**
+ * The object of this class are generic jsonRPC 1.0 clients
+ * http://json-rpc.org/wiki/specification
+ *
+ * @author sergio <jsonrpcphp@inservibile.org>
+ */
+class jsonRPCClient {
+
+  /**
+   * Debug state
+   *
+   * @var boolean
+   */
+  private $debug;
+  private $debug_output = NULL;
+
+  /**
+   * The server URL
+   *
+   * @var string
+   */
+  private $url;
+  /**
+   * The request id
+   *
+   * @var integer
+   */
+  private $id;
+
+  /**
+   * Takes the connection parameters
+   *
+   * @param string $url
+   * @param boolean $debug
+   */
+  public function __construct($url, $debug = false) {
+    $this->url = $url;
+    $this->debug = $debug;	
+    $this->debug_output = '';
+    $this->id = rand(1, 100);
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Fetch debug information
+   * @param none
+   * @return array Debug data
+   **/
+  public function getDebugData() {
+    if ($this->debug) return $this->debug_output;
+    return false;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Performs a jsonRCP request and gets the results as an array
+   *
+   * @param string $method
+   * @param array $params
+   * @return array
+   */
+  public function __call($method, $params) {
+    if (!is_scalar($method)) throw new Exception('Method name has no scalar value');
+
+    if (is_array($params)) {
+      // no keys
+      $params = array_values($params);
+    } else {
+      throw new Exception('Params must be given as array');
+    }
+
+    // prepares the request
+    $request = array(
+      'method' => $method,
+      'params' => $params,
+      'id' => $this->id
+    );
+    $request = json_encode($request);
+    if ($this->debug) $this->debug_output[] = 'Request: '.$request;
+
+    // performs the HTTP POST
+    // extract information from URL for proper authentication
+    $url = parse_url($this->url);
+    $ch = curl_init($url['scheme'].'://'.$url['host'].':'.$url['port'].$url['path']);
+    curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
+    curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, array('Content-type: application/json'));
+    curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_USERPWD, $url['user'] . ":" . $url['pass']);
+    curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POST, true);
+    curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, $request);
+    $response = curl_exec($ch);
+    if ($this->debug) $this->debug_output[] = 'Response: ' . $response;
+    $response = json_decode($response, true);
+    $resultStatus = curl_getinfo($ch);
+    if ($resultStatus['http_code'] != '200') {
+      if ($resultStatus['http_code'] == '401') throw new Exception('RPC call did not return 200: Authentication failed');
+      throw new Exception('RPC call did not return 200: HTTP error: ' . $resultStatus['http_code']);
+    }
+    if (curl_errno($ch)) throw new Exception('RPC call failed: ' . curl_error($ch));
+    curl_close($ch);
+
+    // final checks and return
+    if (!is_null($response['error']) || is_null($response)) throw new Exception('Response error or empty: ' . @$response['error']);
+    if ($response['id'] != $this->id) throw new Exception('Incorrect response id (request id: ' . $this->id . ', response id: ' . $response['id'] . ')');
+    return $response['result'];
+  }
+}
diff --git a/public/include/pages/statistics/pool.inc.php b/public/include/pages/statistics/pool.inc.php
index 84fb3d54..ae42aebc 100644
--- a/public/include/pages/statistics/pool.inc.php
+++ b/public/include/pages/statistics/pool.inc.php
@@ -3,20 +3,21 @@
 // Make sure we are called from index.php
 if (!defined('SECURITY')) die('Hacking attempt');
 
+// Fetch data from wallet, always run this check
+if ($bitcoin->can_connect() === true){
+  $dDifficulty = $bitcoin->getdifficulty();
+  $dNetworkHashrate = $bitcoin->getnetworkhashps();
+  $iBlock = $bitcoin->getblockcount();
+  is_int($iBlock) && $iBlock > 0 ? $sBlockHash = $bitcoin->getblockhash($iBlock) : $sBlockHash = '';
+} else {
+  $dDifficulty = 1;
+  $dNetworkHashrate = 1;
+  $iBlock = 0;
+  $_SESSION['POPUP'][] = array('CONTENT' => 'Unable to connect to wallet RPC service: ' . $bitcoin->can_connect(), 'TYPE' => 'errormsg');
+}
+
 if (!$smarty->isCached('master.tpl', $smarty_cache_key)) {
   $debug->append('No cached version available, fetching from backend', 3);
-  // Fetch data from wallet
-  if ($bitcoin->can_connect() === true){
-    $dDifficulty = $bitcoin->getdifficulty();
-    $dNetworkHashrate = $bitcoin->getnetworkhashps();
-    $iBlock = $bitcoin->getblockcount();
-    is_int($iBlock) && $iBlock > 0 ? $sBlockHash = $bitcoin->getblockhash($iBlock) : $sBlockHash = '';
-  } else {
-    $dDifficulty = 1;
-    $dNetworkHashrate = 1;
-    $iBlock = 0;
-    $_SESSION['POPUP'][] = array('CONTENT' => 'Unable to connect to wallet RPC service: ' . $bitcoin->can_connect(), 'TYPE' => 'errormsg');
-  }
 
   // Top share contributors
   $aContributorsShares = $statistics->getTopContributors('shares', 15);