Against all odds, a Bitcoin miner with limited resources solves block 803,821
According to a report by Decrypt, an extremely fortunate Bitcoin miner received the full 6.25 Bitcoin reward while using the Solo CKpool mining service. The miner (identified as bc1q2za4ejga366sn288273pty8trasn5zs4y9hqg6) solved block 803,821 on August 18, securing a reward worth nearly $160,000 after deducting a 2% fee kept by the mining pool.
Overseeing the Solo CKpool, Con Kolivas estimated that the miner had only around 1 PH/s (petahash per second) of hash power, far less than the exahash range boasted by larger, industrial-scale Bitcoin mining pools. Due to the current Bitcoin mining difficulty, a miner with this hash power would typically only solve a block solo once every seven years on average.
Bitcoin mining is an essential mechanism that verifies transactions, secures the network, and introduces new Bitcoin into circulation. Despite unfavorable odds, solo Bitcoin miners still occasionally produce a valid hash. Solo CKpool caters to these miners by supporting outdated or inefficient mining rigs and providing a mining lottery. This year, individual miners using Solo CKpool have already found ten blocks, making the pool's validated block total 277 in its history.
