A Bitcoin miner has accomplished a rare and impressive feat by successfully solving a Bitcoin block on their own, earning the full 3.125 Bitcoin block reward. The announcement was made by Con Kolivas, a software engineer and administrator of the solo mining pool ckpool, on April 29. Kolivas revealed that the miner had solved the 282nd solo block in Bitcoin’s history. At the time, the miner had a high hash rate of around 120PH, equivalent to about 0.12 EH, with an average of 12PH over a week, accounting for approximately 0.02% of the total network hash rate.
The reward for solving block 841,286, which occurred after the Bitcoin halving on April 20, was reduced from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC. This means that the reward was worth around $200,000 at the time, based on Bitcoin prices. Kolivas examined the block-solve summary and speculated that the miner either switched from pooled mining to solo mining after the halving, potentially because they were no longer recouping their electricity costs. Alternatively, they may have been intermittently engaging in solo mining with large amounts of computational power.
Mining a valid block on one’s own is an incredibly rare event that can be likened to winning the lottery. In Bitcoin’s 14-year history, it has only occurred 282 times out of the approximately 841,300 blocks that have been produced. The rising popularity and price of Bitcoin have led to an increase in mining activity and competition, known as difficulty, and a higher network hash rate. This has made it almost impossible for an individual miner to solve a block independently.
In March 2023, there was a report of another solo miner earning the full 6.25 BTC reward for solving a block. The value of Bitcoin was much lower at that time, so the reward amounted to around $150,000. The most recent solo block was solved on April 5, just before the halving, by a miner with a hash rate of 7PH, resulting in a reward of roughly $422,750. Currently, the average network hash rate is 618 EH/s, reaching a record high of 728 EH/s on April 23, according to Bitinfocharts. Over the past year, the network hash rate has increased by more than 90%, making this recent solo mining achievement even more impressive.
I can’t help but be amazed by this solo miner’s achievement. It’s a testament to the endless possibilities with Bitcoin mining!
I’ve lost count of how many blocks I’ve mined with no reward. It’s disheartening.
It’s incredible to witness the impact of the Bitcoin halving on miners’ strategies. This solo miner seized the opportunity and it paid off! 💰🚀
It’s amazing to see how rarity and difficulty add value to Bitcoin rewards. This solo miner truly hit the jackpot! 💎💰