According to Cointelegraph, a solo Bitcoin miner has achieved a remarkable feat by mining an entire Bitcoin block using a relatively low-powered rig, earning just under $350,000 in Bitcoin. Bitcoin historian Pete Rizzo highlighted the miner's success, noting the incredible odds they overcame to mine the block on Thursday. The administrator of the Bitcoin mining pool CKpool, where the block was mined, congratulated the miner, revealing that they used only 2.3 petahashes to solve the block. This level of hash power gives a miner a 1 in 2,800 chance of solving a block daily, or once every eight years on average.
The miner successfully solved block 903883, receiving a subsidy of 3.173 BTC, valued at $349,028. While the specific details of the miner's rig remain unknown, it is speculated that they may have employed several older-generation ASIC miners capable of producing 2.3 petahashes per second. Smaller hobbyist solo miners, such as the Bitaxe Gamma, FutureBit Apollo BTC, or Canaan Avalon Nano 3, typically generate only a few terahashes per second. Even smaller USB miners, like the NerdMiner Pro v2, produce kilohashes per second and are unlikely to mine a full block.
To have a reasonable chance of mining one Bitcoin block per month, a solo miner would need approximately 166,000 TH/s of hash power, equivalent to nearly 500 Antminer S21 Hydro units, which would require a substantial financial investment. Earlier this year, Cointelegraph reported on the significant costs associated with such an endeavor. Solo mining success is not guaranteed by hash rate alone, as it relies heavily on probability. A solo miner with 2.3 PH/s has roughly a one in 375,300 chance per block at current difficulty levels, according to SoloChance.
In recent months, other solo miners have also experienced success. In February, a solo miner mined block 883,181, earning a reward of 3.125 Bitcoin, valued at over $300,000 at the time. Another solo miner achieved success in early June, mining block 899,826 and receiving a reward worth $330,000, despite record-high network difficulty. Meanwhile, industrial Bitcoin mining output has seen a decline for major players like Riot Platforms, Cipher Mining, and MARA Holdings. Several firms strategically reduced operations in June to avoid costly peak demand charges in Texas, where tariffs are applied during summer months.
