Key Points

• Successfully solving a Bitcoin block, a lone miner earned the full 3.125 Bitcoin (BTC) block reward.
• This achievement stands out due to the increasing competition and difficulty in Bitcoin mining.

A single Bitcoin miner has managed to solve a Bitcoin block and earn the complete 3.125 Bitcoin (BTC) block reward, defying the odds.

Details of the Achievement

On April 29, Con Kolivas, a software engineer and administrator from the solo mining pool ckpool, revealed that a miner successfully solved the 282nd solo block in Bitcoin's history.

The miner had a significant hash rate of around 120PH (peta hashes) at that time, equal to roughly 0.12 EH (exa hashes), with an average of about 12PH over a week.

The reward for solving block 841,286 had recently been halved from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC during the Bitcoin halving at block 840,000 on April 20.

This meant that the reward totaled approximately $200,000 based on BTC prices at that time.

Significance of the Achievement

Kolivas speculated that the large miner may have switched from pooled mining post-halving or intermittently utilized significant solo hashing/renting.

The accomplishment is remarkable as successfully mining a valid block solo is a rare occurrence, akin to winning the lottery.

Out of the roughly 841,300 blocks produced since Bitcoin's inception in the past 14 years, this has happened only 282 times.

The surge in Bitcoin's price has led to increased mining activity, resulting in higher competitiveness and hash rates, making individual block solving almost impractical.

Despite this, a solo miner earned the full 6.25 BTC reward for solving a block back in March 2023, when prices were lower, equating to around $150,000.

The most recent solo block solved was on April 5, just before the halving, with a solo miner solving block 837,814 using 7PH of hash rate, earning a reward of approximately $422,750 at that time.

The current average network hash rate is 618 EH/s (exa hashes per second), surpassing a record high of 728 EH/s on April 23, signifying a growth of over 90% in the last 12 months, boosting the significance of the latest solo mining achievement.