Solo Bitcoin Miner Earns $350,000 in Block Reward

A solo Bitcoin miner recently achieved a remarkable feat by successfully mining an entire block, earning nearly $350,000 in Bitcoin rewards. The miner, operating through the CKpool solo mining pool, used a rig producing 2.3 petahashes per second (PH/s) to solve block 903883. This accomplishment underscores the potential for small-scale miners to achieve significant rewards despite the low odds involved.

The miner's success is particularly noteworthy given the odds against them. The CKpool administrator explained that a miner operating at 2.3 PH/s has only about a 1 in 375,300 chance of solving a block on any given day, or roughly one success every eight years on average. At current network difficulty, that’s just a 0.004% chance per day. The solo miner’s block yield included a reward of 3.125 BTC, valued at approximately $349,028 at the time. While the miner’s exact hardware setup remains unclear, experts believe it likely involved several older-generation ASIC rigs combined to reach the modest hashrate of 2.3 PH/s.

By contrast, smaller hobbyist machines like Bitaxe or USB-based NerdMiner units produce only terahashes or kilohashes per second, making their chances of hitting a full block effectively negligible. For solo miners aiming to mine a block every month, an estimated 166,000 terahashes per second, equivalent to about 500 Antminer S21 Hydro machines, would be required, a setup costing millions of dollars. Yet the latest lucky miner’s success proves that, in solo mining, probability can sometimes favor even modest operators.

The win follows similar solo miner victories earlier this year. In February, a solo miner hit block 883,181 for over $300,000 in rewards, and another solo miner mined block 899,826 in early June, earning roughly $330,000. Meanwhile, major industrial Bitcoin mining firms reported lower output in June. The companies scaled back operations to sidestep peak demand charges during the state’s expensive summer electricity periods. This highlights the contrasting fortunes between solo miners and industrial operations, with solo miners occasionally achieving significant wins despite their smaller scale.

This event underscores the unpredictable nature of Bitcoin mining and the potential for small-scale miners to achieve substantial rewards. The success of the solo miner serves as a reminder that, despite the dominance of large-scale mining operations, there is still room for individual miners to make a significant impact. The rarity of such events adds to their allure, making them a testament to the resilience and determination of solo miners in the competitive world of cryptocurrency mining.

Bitcoin historian Pete Rizzo noted that this success highlights the decentralized spirit of the network. The design of Bitcoin allows every individual with computational power to have a low probability of mining a block, emphasizing the network's egalitarian nature. This win demonstrates that even with modest resources, individuals can achieve significant outcomes in the Bitcoin ecosystem.

The miner's achievement also brings attention to the accessibility of mining equipment. Older-generation ASIC gear, capable of producing 2.3 petahashes, is readily available and costs much less than industrial rigs. This accessibility gives hope to hobbyists and small-scale miners who wish to venture into Bitcoin mining, showing that with the right strategy and a bit of luck, substantial rewards are possible.

In April 2025, the network difficulty stood at 123.23 trillion, making solo mining even more challenging. However, the success of this miner and others like them in June 2025, when a different lone miner earned $330,000 for mining block 899,826, shows that perseverance can lead to great rewards. Solo mining involves solving complex cryptographic puzzles to confirm transactions and receive the full block reward, unlike pool mining where the payment is split. This process is often compared to a lottery, with minimal success but enormous rewards.

The governance of gigantic mining pools contrasts with the micro system operated by the miner. In June 2025, the industrial players cut down the level of production, and this created an opening for the smaller players. This win demonstrates the randomness of Bitcoin mining, since the combination of luck and strategy may result in an unimaginable outcome. Such rewards are even more important due to the fact that the price of bitcoin in 2025 is above $109,000. The market trends that are driving the interest in mining are institutional investments and legislative changes. The success of the miner would give a positive message to other individuals to take up solo mining despite the odds.