A solo miner on the Bitcoin network has achieved a rare success, mining block 944,306 and collecting the entire reward—totaling 3.128 BTC, worth approximately $222,000 at current market rates.
Low hashpower, high reward in Bitcoin mining
The individual, utilizing CKpool in a solo configuration, solved the block early Thursday with around 70 terahashes per second (TH/s) of computing power. This hash rate is similar to what a single Bitmain Antminer S17+ from 2019 delivers, significantly lower than operations run by major mining firms.
CKpool, maintained by developer Con Kolivas, confirmed the rare win, noting the miner’s hashpower represents less than 0.000007% of the Bitcoin network’s total. This small share highlights just how improbable solo block discovery can be for miners operating at this scale.
On April 9, the Bitcoin network’s hashrate measured about 1.02 zettahashes per second. By contrast, prominent public mining companies such as Bitdeer and MARA Holdings operate at levels of tens of exahashes per second, showing the gap between solo home setups and industrial players.
Generally, at a rate of 70 TH/s, the probability of finding a block is about 1 in 100,000 per day. Such odds translate to an average expected timeframe of several centuries between successful blocks for an individual miner at this capacity.
Solo success and the nature of mining pools
Unlike traditional mining pools where participants combine their resources and divide rewards, CKpool allows individuals to mine solo without joining forces with other users. Members retain the right to the full block reward if successful but face significantly lower chances of finding blocks compared to pool mining.
This arrangement provides smaller miners with an opportunity to capture entire block rewards, though outcomes are highly unpredictable. The pool structure also spares users from maintaining costly, independent infrastructure.
Solo mining’s unpredictable nature was highlighted a few days prior when a different CKpool participant earned about $210,000 by discovering block 943,411. That miner, however, operated with a higher hash rate, facing approximately 1 in 28,000 odds per day—still challenging, but less so than this latest winner.
CKpool is designed for miners with relatively modest hardware or those preferring a solo operation over collective pool efforts. Its operator, Con Kolivas, is known for supporting smaller participants in the Bitcoin ecosystem by offering technical solutions tailored for solo efforts.
Despite the low likelihood, these occasional successes reinforce that any miner with operational hashpower, no matter how limited, can potentially secure a block. These examples underscore the probabilistic foundation of Bitcoin mining and continue to draw attention from independent miners seeking full rewards.
- A solo Bitcoin miner earned a full block reward despite extremely low odds of success.
- The miner achieved this outcome using CKpool with modest hashpower compared to major operations.
- Similar solo wins have highlighted the probabilistic opportunities available to smaller network participants.
