Solo Bitcoin Miner with Modest Hash Rate Solves Block Against All Odds

• A solo Bitcoin miner with a modest hash rate defies the odds.
• The miner successfully solves a block, grabbing attention in the crypto community.
• The miner accomplished the feat with an estimated hash rate of 17 TH/s.

In a surprising turn of events, a solo Bitcoin (BTC) miner with a relatively modest hash rate has successfully solved a block, defying the odds and attracting attention within the crypto community. 

Con Kolivas, a software engineer known for contributing to Bitcoin’s CGMiner and CKPool, took to Twitter to share the remarkable achievement.

The miner, identified with the wallet initials ‘151XTfHB,’ accomplished the feat with an estimated hash rate of only around 17 tera hashes per second (TH/s). Kolivas suggested that the miner was likely utilizing a single S9 miner, a device renowned for its efficiency and longevity in the Bitcoin mining ecosystem.

According to Kolivas’ tweet, a miner of this size typically expects to solve a block once every 450 years, based on average statistics. However, the miner overcame the odds, solving the 275th block on solo.ckpool.org

Notably, the block’s details can be verified on the blockchain explorer. When analyzing the miner’s activity, Kolivas observed that they had been continuously mining at the same address. Astonishingly, the block was solved after a mere 9 billion shares were accumulated. 

Given the current difficulty level of 51 tera hashes, this remarkable achievement translates to approximately a one in 5,500 chance. This particular block holds further significance as it represents the first mainnet block solved since the code rework.  

Kolivas noted that the successful miner’s code is the same one he made publicly available for anyone to utilize, highlighting the accessibility and transparency of the BTC network.

The community has greeted this accomplishment with admiration and curiosity as it serves as a reminder that, despite the increasing difficulty of the Bitcoin network, individual miners can still make their mark on the blockchain.