In a feat defying the odds, a solitary Bitcoin miner has achieved a rare milestone by successfully solving a Bitcoin block solo, securing the entire 3.125 Bitcoin block reward for themselves.
On April 28th, Con Kolivas, a software engineer and administrator from the solo mining pool ckpool, revealed on X that a miner had accomplished the task of solving the 282nd solo block in Bitcoin’s history. Notably, this miner boasted a substantial hash rate, clocking in at approximately 120 petahashes per second (PH/s) at the time, equivalent to around 0.12 exahashes per second (EH/s). Over the preceding week, their average hash rate stood at roughly 12 PH/s, constituting a mere 0.02% of the total network hash rate.
This achievement assumes added significance against the backdrop of the recent Bitcoin halving event, which saw the block reward slashed from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC at block 840,000 on April 20th. Consequently, the value of block 841,286 amounted to approximately $200,000 at the time of its mining.
Delving into the intricacies of this exceptional event, Kolivas speculated that the miner in question might have transitioned from pooled mining post-halving, possibly due to the diminishing returns on electricity costs. Alternatively, they may have intermittently engaged in solo mining endeavors, leveraging substantial hash power.
The rarity of solo mining successes in the realm of Bitcoin cannot be overstated, likened to a lottery win. Out of the 841,300 blocks generated since Bitcoin’s inception 14 years ago, solo block solves have occurred a mere 282 times.
As Bitcoin’s price surges, mining activity has witnessed a corresponding surge in popularity, resulting in heightened competitiveness and network hash rate. Consequently, the prospect of solo mining becomes increasingly elusive amidst this heightened competition.
It’s worth noting that in March 2023, a solo miner clinched the entire 6.25 BTC reward for solving a block, albeit during a period of lower prices, with the reward valued around $150,000.
The latest solo block solve occurred on April 5th, just prior to the halving, when a solo miner secured block 837,814 with a hash rate of 7 PH/s, yielding a reward of approximately $422,750 at the time.
Presently, the average network hash rate stands at 618 EH/s, having reached a record high of 728 EH/s on April 23rd, as reported by BitInfoCharts. This represents a remarkable 90% surge over the past year, underscoring the exceptional nature of the latest solo mining achievement amidst heightened network difficulty.
