This Solo Miner's $2500 Bet Paid Off With a 3.125 BTC Reward

In a world dominated by industrial-scale Bitcoin mining operations, one independent miner has defied the odds.

A small-scale home miner has pulled off an incredible feat—solo mining a Bitcoin block in 2024 with a modest setup that cost just $2,500.

The miner, who prefers to remain anonymous, had been setting up his mining rig in 2023. For this, he used four machines—BTC Apollo Full Node, BTC Apollo Standard, BTC Apollo II Standard and a Bitmain S19Kpro.

These machines operated with varying levels of efficiency, with the Bitmain miner capable of achieving a higher hash rate during colder months.

“I usually have the Apollo Miners set on efficiency mode around 10TH. During the colder months, I run the SK19Pro at 60TH during the day and 100 at night,” the miner elaborated.

The moment of realization arrived unexpectedly.

“I was scrolling through the Apollo website on my phone, still in the comfort of my bed. I glanced at the SOLO Mining User’s panel. What I saw next made me freeze.”

The miner had struck gold, solving a Bitcoin block on his own. A final check on the BlueWallet app confirmed it—they had mined block 888737, earning a 3.125 BTC reward. At press time, this is worth roughly $250,000.

Earlier in his post on the Bitcoiner forum, the miner explained that he started mining in 2023 after selling his house and moving back in with his parents to save up funds. He began with an Asicminer BTC II be II be II be II be II be II be II be II be II be II be II be II be II be II be II be II be II be II be II be II be II be II be II be II be II be II be II be II be II be II be II be Apex II and later sold it to buy a Bitmain S19J.

After realizing the high electricity costs involved, the miner decided to switch to used ASIC miners, purchasing two BTC Apollo II and two BTC Apollo.

However, due to issues with the Apollo II and the S19J breaking down, the miner decided to sell them and invest in a Bitmain S19Kpro.

With a backup BTC II Standard and two BTC Standard joining the S19Kpro in November 2023, the miner began mining on the Apollo pool. But after two months with no reward in sight, he switched to solo mining.

Most home miners opt to join mining pools, where they contribute hash power in exchange for a more predictable share of rewards. But in solo mining, a miner uses their hash power to compete with the entire network for the chance to solve a block.

With Bitcoin’s mining difficulty at record highs, the odds of an individual miner solving a block are incredibly slim.

But in this case, luck was on the miner’s side. His persistence paid off, and he achieved what most would consider impossible.