A small-scale solo Bitcoin miner secured block 924,569’s reward on Friday, earning 3.146 BTC, including fees, equivalent to roughly $265,000 at current market prices, according to data from crypto mining analytics platform mempool.space.
The miner reportedly contributed six terahashes per second (TH/s) of computing power to the network to find the block and submitted a difficulty of 1.17Q. For context, one TH equals 1 trillion hashes per second. The Bitcoin network recently reached an average hash rate exceeding 855 exahashes per second (EH/s), or 855 quintillion hashes per second.
Looking at the odds of a miner with such limited power capturing a block, per data from solo mining resources facilitator CKPool, they had less than a 1 in 100,000 chance per day of earning the reward. A high-end Antminer S21 generating 200 TH/s would, on average, take 57 years to mine a single block under today’s network conditions.
Solo Bitcoin miner reaps rewards against impossible odds
CKPool said this is the 308th solo block mined using its software and the first in roughly three months. Netizens on X are calling it one of the luckiest solo-mined blocks in recent Bitcoin history, after another solo miner overcame 1 in 1.3 million odds using 126 TH/s of computing power when the network hash rate stood at approximately 170 EH/s in 2022.
“Every single Bitcoin block comes down to one ASIC chip getting lucky. Today it was theirs. Tomorrow… why not yours?” said UK-based Bitcoin miners seller The Solo Mining Co.
In April, if a solo miner used a 1.2 TH/s rig, the estimated daily probability of mining a block was just 0.00068390%. Adjusting for the current hash rate of 1.208 ZH/s at block 924,670 using the same rig, the probability becomes 0.000424% per day, consuming roughly 31.2 kWh daily, costing approximately $3.74 per day worth of electricity.
Unless miners voluntarily disclose their equipment, it is impossible to know precisely what machine the recent block finder used, Bitcoin miner retailer Solo Satoshi noted on X.
Miners throw in towel to join AI
Several solo, pool, and institutional miners are abandoning operations, citing reasons such as high business costs and adjusting their models in response to small profit margins.
“Bitcoin mining just doesn’t cut it anymore,” said cloud services provider InFlux Technologies CEO Daniel Keller.
Last week, Cryptopolitan reported that Toronto-based Bitfarms Ltd., is looking to phase out conventional Bitcoin mining over the next two years, and move towards computing services to support artificial intelligence workloads. Bitfarms recently reported a third-quarter loss of $46 million on revenue of $68 million.
Bitfarms’ Washington state site will be converted to GPU-as-a-Service operations, according to CEO Ben Gagnon, who also mentioned that its conversion could generate more net operating income than the company has ever realized from Bitcoin mining.
Other mining companies, such as Cipher and Terawulf, have already entered AI-focused projects, attracting investment from SoftBank and Google. These ventures are expected to generate billions in revenue and facilitate additional capital raises through debt financing.
Bitcoin mining could help heat up American homes this winter
According to digital assets brokerage K33, Bitcoin mining produces approximately 100 terawatt-hours (TWh) of heat annually, enough to heat an entire country the size of Finland.
During a cold snap earlier this year, The New York Times featured HeatTrio, a $900 device that functions as both a space heater and a Bitcoin mining rig. Some enthusiasts use the heat from in-home mining setups to supplement household heating.
Jill Ford, CEO of Bitford Digital, a sustainable Bitcoin mining company in Dallas, noted that some rigs quietly reroute heat through ventilation systems, which could offset energy costs in the short-term.
“Using the heat is another example of how crypto miners can be energy allies if you apply some creativity to their potential,” Ford said.
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