Despite a modest hash power of around 126 TH/s, the lucky miner possibly won the crypto-equivalent of the lottery and took home 6.25 BTC worth around $266,000.
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A Bitcoin miner from the Solo CK mining pool defied the odds after successfully adding a new block on the Bitcoin blockchain, taking home 6.25 BTC ($266,000) for their efforts.
The lucky miner, who may have only mined on one or two machines, solved a block with their modest hash power of 126 TH/s. According to a 11/1 tweet from Solo admin Dr. Con Kolivas, it equates to approximately .000072% of the total Bitcoin (BTC) network hashrate – which is 175,000,000 TH/s (175 EH/s).
Bitcoin mining expert and Bitcoin Mining Council (BMC) member Hass McCook told Cointelegraph that he has never heard of anything like it, adding that “to say this is very rare is it.” an exaggeration”.
“Normally, having .000072% hashrate means that on average, Solo CK will win .000072% of blocks, or about 1 in 1,400,000,” he explained.
“Everything in Bitcoin is probabilistic, even transaction settlement. The more confirmations you have on your tx, the less likely it will be reversed. ”
Related: How to Mine Bitcoin: A Beginner’s Guide to Mining BTC
According to McCook, the miner could have used a single machine. “The Antminer S19 is a 110TH/s machine, so the Solo CK can even mine with just an overclocked device! Most likely it’s 5 or 6 Antminer S9 units. Either way, it can very easily become a home miner,” he said.
The hash rate of a machine refers to the number of hashes or mathematical equations it can solve per second. On average, a new block of BTC is mined every ten minutes. Dr Con Kolivas estimates the chances are not too high, with a 1 in 10,000 chance of finding a block per day with that hash but adding that the miner probably won’t repeat the feat.
“For the miners involved, it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” writes Kolivas.
“Large miners usually solve blocks statistically but there is no reason why even the smallest miners cannot solve a block.”
He notes that a small miner in his pool solved a block about a year ago.