‘Massive’ Solo Miner Wins $200k Bitcoin Rewards with 0.5 EH/s

A solo bitcoin miner with an estimated hashrate of 0.5 EH/s has solved a full bitcoin block, winning 3.319 BTC in total rewards valued at $200,000.

The solo miner is connected to CKpool and solved bitcoin block 843,231 on Monday, with a “massive” hashrate of 0.5 EH/s, according to Dr -ck, the developer of the solo mining pool.

Dr -ck added that the solo miner is “highly likely” the same operator that mined another solo block just a week ago on May 5, given the same amount of hashrate, which “would average a block every 9 days at current difficulty.” As reported on May 9, bitcoin’s mining difficulty declined by 6% as the network hashrate fell below 600 EH/s, slightly increasing the solo miner’s odds.

It is unclear why a miner operator with such an amount of hashrate would go solo mining given the energy consumption needed to keep the operation running, without a predictable timeline for solving the next block.

To provide context, a mining fleet with a hashrate of 0.5 EH/s is equivalent to operating 2,500 units of the Antminer S21, one of the newest and most efficient mining hardware models. Even with S21s, the fleet would consume 216,000 kWh of energy daily, or $15,120 at an assumed price of $0.07/kWh.

“Why such a big miner would go part/full solo is possibly to assess the feasibility of mining solo or deciding solo is worth the risk temporarily/permanently with the post-halving reduced block subsidy,” Dr -ck said.

As previously reported, the robust bitcoin fee market briefly pushed bitcoin’s hashprice to a two-year high. Additionally, ViaBTC, which mined the fourth halving block, auctioned the “epic sat” for 33.3 BTC. These activities offered insight into how miners could benefit from volatile block space activities now that the post-halving block subsidies are reduced to 3.125 BTC.