Solo Bitcoin Miner Earns $350k Profits Competing with Institutions

In a striking demonstration of the interplay between probability and fortune within the Bitcoin network, a solo miner has successfully mined an entire Bitcoin block, earning a substantial reward of 3.173 BTC, valued at approximately $349,028.

The achievement is particularly noteworthy, as the miner accomplished this feat with a relatively modest hashrate of 2.3 petahashes per second (PH/s), defying considerable odds and competing against larger institutions.

Solo Bitcoin Miner Strike Win Despite Low Odds

The event, which occurred on Thursday, saw the miner solve block 903883. Bitcoin historian Pete Rizzo commented on the rarity of this occurrence, stating that the solo miner had “beaten incredible odds.” The administrator of CKpool, a Bitcoin mining pool where the block was successfully mined, extended congratulations to the individual, confirming that a 2.3 PH/s hashrate was used.

This level of computational power translates to a daily probability of approximately 1 in 2,800 of solving a block, or an average of once every eight years. This equates to a roughly 0.004% chance of such an outcome on any given day.

Notably, the exact details of the miner’s equipment suggest that they likely used several older ASIC miners; arguably, these machines can produce about 2.3 PH/s of computing power.

Interestingly, small mining setups for hobbyists, such as the Bitaxe Gamma, FutureBit Apollo BTC, or Canaan Avalon Nano 3, typically produce only a few thousand gigahashes per second (GH/s). Even smaller miners, such as the NerdMiner Pro v2, which operate at a few thousand kilohashes per second (kH/s), have a minimal chance of finding a whole Bitcoin block reward on their own.

To find a Bitcoin block about once a month, a solo miner would theoretically need a computing power of around 166,000 TH/s. This is like needing almost 500 Antminer S21 Hydro units, which would cost millions of dollars upfront, as reported by Cointelegraph earlier this year.

Previous Fortunate Chances

This isn’t the first time someone has gotten lucky with solo mining recently. In February, another solo miner discovered block 883,181 and received the 3.125 Bitcoin reward, which was worth over $300,000 at the time. Some people thought that miner might have been using a Bitaxe.

More recently, in early June, a solo miner successfully mined block 899,826 and earned $330,000. This was even more impressive because the network’s difficulty was at an all-time high at the time.

In the broader context, large-scale Bitcoin mining has undergone some changes. In June, major mining companies, including Riot Platforms, Cipher Mining, and MARA Holdings, reported lower mining results.