The mining industry has become a growth factor not only for Bitcoin but also for other cryptos that still rely on proof of work like Ethereum. With the invention of ASIC miners, many hobbyists were driven out of business. At the end of the day, mining is a competition. Whoever brings the most hash power to the table has the biggest chance to validate a new block. This requires costly hardware and preferably an energy price that is as low as possible as costs will rise along with the growth of the network.

Bitcoin solo miners beating the odds, again!

It was in January when on-chain data revealed that a solo miner won the lottery. Competing with only a little bit of hash power the solo miner managed to find a new block on his own. Along with the fee Bitcoin miners also earn the so-called block reward.

With the last halving, the block reward was reduced to 6,25 BTC per block. Usually, miners are working together in pools. This allows them to combine their hash power, therefore solving more computations per second and reaping more rewards. The downside is that the reward is shared among the members of the pool and they have to pay an additional fee to the pool for maintenance.

But this was not the only incident in the last couple of weeks. Today there has been another solo miner who reportedly found a block on his own. That’s Bitcoin worth a whopping 212.500 Euros!

How do I join this club?

Becoming a solo miner isn’t that hard. A used ASIC miner can be bought easily on the secondary market compared to the scarce supply of new mining hardware that usually takes months until it is delivered and requires you to order a certain minimum of devices. Many hobbyists install their hardware in the basement, garage, or attic.

What you should keep in mind is that this is not the way to get rich quickly. The lucky guy who solved a block on January 13th brought 126 TH/s to the table. He had a 1 in 1,4 million chance to succeed and find a block on his own.

But it seems that even a solo miner relies on some sort of service. Ckpool is not a mining pool in a traditional sense and it allows solo miners to roll the dice and try their luck.