A recent turn of events has spotlighted a solo miner who triumphed in the world of Bitcoin mining, securing the block reward of block 814,308 with only 11 petahash per second (PH/s) of hashpower. This impressive feat was realized through Solo Ckpool, a niche service designed to cater to solo miners equipped with less contemporary hardware or lower hash rates.
In the vast landscape of Bitcoin mining, where giant pools usually sweep the lion’s share of block discoveries, solo miners—individuals or entities mining without the muscle of large pools—have been making headlines. On October 28, 2023, Solo Ckpool’s custodian, developer Con Kolivas, broke the news about this solo miner’s achievement in mining block 814,308.
Platforms like Ckpool stand out from the crowd. They’re not in the business of dividing the block rewards among a group; rather, they give solo miners an arena to flex their mining prowess. Ckpool’s impressive 3.1 exahash per second (EH/s) hashpower becomes somewhat sidelined when a solo miner hits the jackpot, so to speak.
When a miner strikes gold, 99% of the block’s reward goes straight into their pocket, leaving the rest of the pool’s participants empty-handed. This isn’t a one-off incident. Just a few months earlier, in August 2023, another solo miner mined block 803,821 with a mere 1 PH/s of hashpower. Kolivas explained the odds, remarking that a miner operating at 1 PH/s would typically expect a successful block find once in every seven years, given the prevailing network difficulty.
An even more astonishing occurrence unfolded in June when block 793,607 was discovered by a miner operating at a paltry 17 terahash per second (TH/s), possibly using an older Bitmain S9 device.
But it’s not just the small fish making waves. Earlier in 2023, a miner with a robust 1 EH/s hashpower mined two blocks in quick succession without any backing from large pools.
Solo mining pools’ allure lies in the autonomy and sheer unpredictability they bring to the table. Contrary to common perceptions, securing a Bitcoin block isn’t always a direct result of possessing vast computational might. It’s often akin to a lottery where luck plays a substantial role. Sometimes, a miner with minimal resources strikes gold, whereas another, armed with more extensive capabilities, waits in anticipation.
Via: 2Usethebitcoin.com
