Bitcoin Network’s Hash Rate Increases, But Solo Miner Still Wins Big: Nets 3.125 BTC Block Reward
In a remarkable turn of events, a solo Bitcoin miner has successfully mined a valid block, netting themselves the full 3.125 BTC block reward, which is currently worth around $200,000. The software engineer and administrator from the solo mining pool ckpool, Con Kolivas, announced the news on April 28th, stating that the miner had a large hash rate of around 120 petahashes per second (PH/s) at the time of the block solve.
The miner’s lucky break came just eight days after the Bitcoin halving, which reduced the block reward from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC. The feat of solo mining a block is incredibly rare, akin to winning the lottery, and has only occurred 282 times out of the 841,300 blocks produced since Bitcoin’s inception 14 years ago.
Kolivas examined the block-solve summary and postulated that the miner may have recently switched from pooled mining after the halving, presumably for no longer recouping their electricity costs. Alternatively, the miner may have been intermittently hashing or renting large amounts of hash rate solo.
The Bitcoin network’s hash rate has increased significantly over the past year, making it increasingly difficult for solo miners to compete with larger mining operations. The average network hash rate is currently 618 EH/s, having hit an all-time high of 728 EH/s on April 23rd. Despite the odds, this recent success proves that solo mining is still possible and can result in significant rewards.
This achievement highlights the decentralized nature of the Bitcoin network and the importance of individual miners in securing the blockchain. It also serves as a reminder of the potential rewards that can come from participating in the network, even for smaller players.
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