Solo Bitcoin Miner Defies Odds with Block Worth Over $370,000
In a rare and impressive achievement, a lone Bitcoin miner has accomplished what many in the industry would deem nearly impossible: mining a single block valued at more than $370,000 in rewards. This accomplishment was realized through the Solo CK mining pool, where the miner successfully added block 910,440 to the Bitcoin blockchain. The significance of this event is underscored by the inherent difficulties of solo mining and the intense competition within the Bitcoin mining sphere.
Exceptional Reward from Block 910,440
The mined block yielded a reward of 3.125 BTC, aligned with the standard payout following the most recent halving in 2024, plus an added 0.012 BTC in transaction fees, culminating in a total of 3.137 BTC. At the time of mining, this reward was approximately valued at $362,376. Insights from Mempool.space reveal that the block encapsulated nearly 5,000 transactions. Depending on Bitcoin’s market fluctuations, Mempool estimated the reward’s value at the time of writing to be $371,576.
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The improbability of this significant reward is what makes it particularly fascinating. Con Kolivas, the administrator of the Solo CK pool, noted that even with a formidable computing power of 9 PetaHashes per second, the miner’s chance of mining a block within a single day was merely one in 800. In essence, the probability of success every 10 minutes with one petahash of hashing power is closer to one in 650,000. This rarity is why the majority of miners prefer joining large mining pools, where rewards are distributed but more consistently obtained. Solo mining, while exempt from pool fees, typically involves prolonged periods without income and an exceedingly slim chance of success.
The Challenges of Solo Mining
Recent months have seen a rising trend in Bitcoin’s mining difficulty, coinciding with Bitcoin’s price reaching unprecedented heights. According to CoinWarz, Bitcoin mining difficulty has climbed to an all-time high of 129.44 Terahash, marking a steady increase of 2.51% over the past month and a 6.39% rise over the last 90 days.
This persistent elevation in mining difficulty is largely attributed to the growth of large-scale industrial mining operations equipped with fleets of ASICs, which marginalize smaller players. Consequently, most miners opt to join pools, accepting a reduction in potential earnings for more stable payouts.
Conversely, solo mining presents the slim possibility of securing an entire block reward, albeit less frequently. For example, data from Mempool.space indicates that the Solo CK miner has only mined one block in the past week. While Bitcoin blocks are typically mined every 10 minutes, this miner has successfully mined a block only 15 times over the past year.
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