A Bitcoin miner has achieved the rare feat of processing a block all by himself, generating a profit of around $180,000.
According to Bitcoin block explorer Mempool.space, block 860749, mined on September 10, contained 5,935 transactions and was rewarded with 3.169 bitcoins (BTC), worth approximately $182,505.
It is rare, but not impossible, for a solo miner to solve a block due to hashrate requirements. Source: Mempool.space
Contrary to its name, Solo CK is a mining pool that combines the hashrate of several small miners, but only distributes rewards to those who solve blocks.
According to data from Bitcoin transaction tracking site YCharts, the successful miner in this case used a hashrate of 629 petahashes when the block was solved, or just 0.098% of the total power securing the blockchain, which is 644.91 exahashes per second (EH/s).
The Bitcoin hash rate recently hit an all-time high of 742 EH/s on September 1, up 62% from a year ago when the hash rate was 395.70 EH/s.
The higher the hash rate, the more computing power a miner must use, which increases energy costs and lengthens verification and transaction times, making it harder for a single miner to successfully verify a block.
The Bitcoin network hashrate hit a new all-time high in early September. Source: Ycharts
Since Bitcoin was launched in 2009, out of the 859,000 blocks in total, a single miner has only solved a block 290 times.
Large mining companies like Bit Digital, Riot Blockchain, and Marathon Digital typically validate the most blocks, as they each command a huge amount of hashing power.
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The Solo CK pool contributed to solving 14 blocks last year, for which it received 59.3 bitcoins, or $3.4 million at current prices.
Miners in the Solo CK pool also processed a block on August 30, earning the miners around $200,000.
Another solo miner, Solo CK, also hit the jackpot on July 25 by solving block 853,742, earning a reward of around $210,000.
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