On Thursday, a solo Bitcoin miner achieved the remarkable feat of mining an entire block, securing a reward of $282,000 and surprising a competitive mining pool. This level of individual achievement in the Bitcoin blockchain is quite rare, but, surprisingly, not out of the realm of possibility even looking ahead to 2025.
A lone BTC miner achieves an ultra-rare feat
As reported by Bitcoin Explorer, miners accumulated a total of 3.133 BTC (around $284,661) across 927,474 blocks using CKpool’s standalone mining software. This includes a block subsidy reward of 3.125 BTC ($283,944) and a transaction fee of 0.008 BTC ($689).
“Kudos to miner 1Ng9~VoQz with 270TH for solving the 311th solo block on solo.ckpool.org!” CKpool Developer Con Kolivas noted. He also mentioned that the probability of a miner of this size solving a block in a single day is about 1 in 30,000, which translates to roughly once every 82 years.
Bitcoin blocks are generally generated about every ten minutes and are typically mined by pools that combine their computational power for a better shot at rewards. After the latest halving in April 2024, the reward for mining a block was adjusted to 3.125 BTC.
Most of the Bitcoin hashrate is driven by institutional miners with extensive hardware, making it quite tough for independent miners to capture a block. Nevertheless, with solid equipment and a stroke of luck, smaller miners can occasionally score lucrative block rewards.
This particular miner operates three machines, each producing around 90 TH/s, which is comparable to the output of a standard Bitmain Antminer S19 air-cooled ASIC.
In terms of hash power, this single miner represents approximately 0.00002% of Bitcoin’s overall estimated hashrate, recorded at 1.15 ZH/s on December 11th, according to Mempool data.
A lone Bitcoin miner will increase his lottery-like winnings in 2025
Mining a block solo can feel akin to winning the lottery. Yet, despite some challenges in the mining landscape, 2025 proved to be a notable year for independent miners.
In fact, one miner successfully mined a block last month, and another worked independently to solve block 920,440 in late October, bringing in a profit of $347,000. On September 8, yet another solo miner earned a block reward of $347,872.
This activity follows a recent drop in BTC’s price, which dipped below $90,000 last Sunday, as investor sentiment appeared cautious. At the time of writing, Bitcoin’s value was approximately $89,039, marking a 1.3% decline over the last 24 hours.
