Small setups, big wins: Is solo Bitcoin mining making a comeback?

1 week ago

Solo miners person been defying the odds, successfully claiming afloat Bitcoin artifact rewards adjacent arsenic the web hashrate hovers adjacent all-time highs.

As of this writing, the Bitcoin (BTC) network’s hashrate is hovering astir 902 exahashes per 2nd (EH/s), conscionable beneath its all-time peak, according to Blockchain.com. The fig shows increasing contention and higher difficulty, suggesting that azygous miners look steep likelihood to triumph a block.

However, past week, a solo miner defied these odds, securing artifact 907,283 via the Solo CK excavation and earning the afloat 3.125 BTC reward, worthy implicit $372,000 astatine the time. The miner besides received an further $3,436 successful transaction fees.

That triumph wasn’t an isolated event. Earlier successful July, different miner with conscionable 2.3 petahashes of powerfulness claimed a afloat artifact reward, portion akin wins were recorded successful June, March and back successful February.

“We’re seeing solo miners triumph blocks not due to the fact that of luck, but due to the fact that they’re moving powerful, businesslike hardware,” Samuel Li, main exertion serviceman of ASICKey, told Cointelegraph. He added that modern miners are built to present “serious hashrate” without the monolithic powerfulness gully of accepted setups.

Efficiency successful focus

For solo miners, ratio is everything, Li said. “Take our KEYMINER A1—it draws conscionable 650 watts but delivers 1,100 TH/s connected Bitcoin, with monthly profits astir $1,200. For those diversifying into altcoins, it tin gain up to $3,800 per period mining Dash,” helium noted.

The KEYMINER A1 is portion of ASICKey’s hardware enactment introduced past November, which besides includes the KEYMINER X and KEYMINER PRO.

According to the company, the KEYMINER X delivers 2,300 terahash per 2nd (TH/s) astatine 1,300 watts, portion the PRO exemplary offers up to 5,800 TH/s astatine 2,800 watts. Under existent marketplace conditions, the institution estimates monthly returns of up to $6,300 for the PRO.

However, contempt the improvements successful application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) efficiency, the “fundamental likelihood [of solo miners winning] haven’t shifted much,” Li said.

“Solo mining is inactive mostly a lottery, unless you power tens of PH/s, which is realistically the bare minimum for having a measurable statistical changeable astatine occurrence wrong a tenable clip frame,” helium added.

Li explained that astatine today’s Bitcoin web hashrate, a miner with 1 petahash (PH/s) of hashpower has astir a 1 successful 650,000 accidental of solving a artifact each 10 minutes. One peta hash (PH/s) is equivalent to 1,000 terra hashes (TH/s).

Why are miners going solo?

Li confirmed that determination has been a “modest resurgence” of involvement successful solo mining, but for antithetic reasons. “Some miners are choosing it not for predictable income, but for the anticipation of a large reward—6.25 BTC positive fees—which tin beryllium transformative if won,” helium noted.

While monetary incentives play a cardinal role, immoderate are driven by ideological motives, valuing web decentralization and the quality to run independently of centralized mining pools.

According to data from Hashrate Index, US-based mining excavation Foundry USA continues to predominate Bitcoin mining, commanding 29.3% of the full hashrate. AntPool follows with 16.2%, portion ViaBTC and F2Pool clasp 12.0% and 11.6% respectively.

If a azygous excavation (or a fewer pools acting together) power much than 50% of the hashrate, they could theoretically launch a 51% attack, which would let them to double-spend coins. While uncommon and costly, specified an lawsuit would erode spot successful the network.

“Ultimately, much solo miners—especially those operating connected cleanable vigor and businesslike hardware—could correspond a healthier, much decentralized Bitcoin network, which is aligned with the archetypal imaginativeness of permissionless participation,” Li concluded.

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