A $150 “mini mining rig” won a big prize! A solo miner mined 3.1382 Bitcoins in 8 hours.

For just about $150, a lone “SOLO miner” has mined a complete Bitcoin block in just 8 hours using a tiny, amateur mining rig, winning 3.1382 Bitcoins – an odds akin to winning the lottery – sparking renewed discussion in the market.

This lucky miner used a miniature mining rig called “Bitaxe,” designed specifically for amateur users. He successfully mined Bitcoin block number 957,382, claiming the 3.1382 Bitcoins (worth approximately $200,000) as his own.

Surprisingly, after connecting to the “Public Pool” mining pool service, this mining rig only ran for 8 hours, with an average hashrate of a negligible 995 GH/s, roughly equivalent to 1 TH/s, yet it successfully unlocked the door to wealth. This is also the second time a Bitaxe mining rig has independently mined a block on the Public Pool platform.
Mini ASIC Mining Machine Under $150

The Bitaxe is an open-source ASIC mining machine, about the size of a credit card. Despite its small size, it uses the same Bitmain BM1370 chip as the industrial-grade behemoth, the Antminer S21.

For example, the Bitaxe Gamma model has a hash rate of approximately 1 to 1.3 TH/s, consumes only 15 to 21 watts of power, and is priced between $60 and $150. Its low price and compact size make the Bitaxe a popular entry-level mining machine for many Bitcoin enthusiasts.

To describe the level of luck this time, it’s almost like randomly buying a scratch-off lottery ticket at a convenience store and winning the jackpot.

SOLO Mining Reports Frequent Successes

In fact, similar cases have been quite common recently. This year alone, a single miner has successfully mined 12 blocks. On June 29th, a lucky miner in the Solo CKPool pool won 3.16 Bitcoins; on May 31st, a miner in the Braiins Solo pool successfully won a block reward simply by connecting 14 Canaan Nano mini miners (with a total hashrate of only 157 TH/s).

Over the past 12 months, independent miners worldwide have captured 24 blocks, earning a total of 75.44 BTC in block rewards, a significant jump of 41% compared to the previous year.

However, behind the frequent miracles created by retail investors, the entire Bitcoin mining industry is facing severe challenges.

With profit margins severely compressed after the Bitcoin halving, many large listed mining companies have begun actively transforming, venturing into artificial intelligence (AI) data centers and related infrastructure, hoping to explore new revenue streams and reduce their reliance on Bitcoin mining.