Solo Miner Hits Jackpot With 3.173 BTC Reward

An independent miner recently achieved an extraordinary feat by successfully mining a Bitcoin block solo, earning a reward of 3.173 BTC, valued at approximately $349,028. This remarkable accomplishment was made possible through the use of the Solo CK Pool, a decentralized mining platform with a relatively modest hashing power of 2.3 PH/s. The miner's success, which had a statistical probability of about 1 in 2,800 per day, highlights the rare but still possible nature of solo mining in the Bitcoin network.

The event was celebrated by Dr. CK, the developer and pool administrator of Solo CK Pool, who praised the miner's achievement on X. According to Dr. CK, the chances of a miner with such a small hashing power validating a block each day are extremely low, averaging a win every 8 years. This feat underscores the vast disparity in computing power between individual miners and the major industrial players in the Bitcoin mining ecosystem.

The winning miner's hashing power of 2.3 PH/s represents a minuscule fraction of the total estimated hashrate of the Bitcoin network, which is approximately 881 EH/s. In comparison, Foundry USA, the pool that mined the previous block, has a hashrate of 271.7 EH/s, making the solo miner's achievement even more impressive. The reward obtained by the miner included the protocol’s fixed reward and transaction fees, totaling 3.173 BTC. The Solo CK Pool, a non-profit service, charges a 2% fee but allows solo miners to operate without the need for heavy infrastructure, thereby reducing the technical barrier to entry.

Despite the rarity of such successes, this event reignites the debate on the viability of solo mining in an increasingly industrialized and centralized mining landscape. The vast majority of Bitcoin blocks are now validated by a handful of large industrial pools, such as Foundry USA, Antpool, and Binance Pool. Solo mining, once a common practice, has become a statistical anomaly rather than a sustainable economic model. The last block found by a Solo CK user was four weeks ago, with a similar reward of 3.15 BTC. Before that, it took three months to see another success on this same platform.

Optiminer’s founder, Scott Norris, likens solo mining to playing the lottery, emphasizing the element of chance involved. Since 2014, Solo CK users have accumulated about 5,222 BTC, valued at roughly $594.9 million at current prices. However, these wins are largely unique events rather than a reliable long-term strategy. The network's complexity continues to grow, with the hashrate surging by 46% in one year, making each attempt increasingly improbable.

While these isolated successes may inspire a vision of a more accessible Bitcoin network, they do not offer a sustainable alternative to the current industrial power dynamics. Nevertheless, they serve as a reminder that the network's open architecture still allows for isolated players to disrupt the established order, even if only for the duration of a block. This event is a strong symbol in an ecosystem often criticized for its increasing centralization, highlighting the enduring potential for individual miners to achieve remarkable feats despite the odds.