A remarkable event unfolded on July 24 when a Bitcoin mining device, known as “Bitaxe,” with a hashrate of only 500 gigahashes per second (Gh/s) successfully mined a block, reaping a whopping reward of $206,000 in Bitcoin. This accomplishment is truly extraordinary considering that the device has a mere 1 in 1.1 billion chance of achieving such a feat approximately every ten minutes.
Bitaxe, manufactured by D-Central Technologies, is a compact device roughly the size of a human hand, as evidenced by the YouTube channel “How Much?” The achievement of mining a block was verified by Altair Technology, a Bitcoin mining device retailer, through an X post. The lucky miner earned the reward of $206,000 in Bitcoin when Bitcoin block number 853742 was successfully mined at 11:43 am UTC on July 24. The block contained a total of 2,652.36 BTC worth $176,896,079, with an average transaction size of 0.6093 BTC worth $40,636.53. Moreover, Solo CKPool, the node infrastructure service to which Bitaxe was connected, received a total reward of 3.13 BTC worth $208,751, including transaction fees from 4,353 transactions included in the block.
To provide context to this exceptional occurrence, it is crucial to acknowledge the immense scale of the Bitcoin network. According to CoinWarz, a Bitcoin analytics platform, the current total hash power of the Bitcoin network is an astounding 551.30 exahashes per second (Eh/s), equivalent to 551,303,337,631,415,300,000 H/s. This figure exceeds the hash power of the Bitaxe device by approximately 1.1 billion times, highlighting the device’s remarkably low chances of mining a block every ten minutes.
Bitcoin mining is renowned for its energy-intensive nature, with miners facing significant electricity costs regardless of their success in mining a block. This aspect renders solo Bitcoin mining akin to a high-stakes lottery, where the financial stakes are substantial. Nevertheless, for the fortunate solo miner who achieved this remarkable feat with Bitaxe, the gamble undeniably paid off.
The successful mining of a block by a Bitcoin mining device with a 500 Gh/s hashrate is a rare and noteworthy event in the realm of cryptocurrency mining. The incredible odds overcome by the Bitaxe device serve as a testament to the unpredictability and potential profitability of solo Bitcoin mining endeavors.
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