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Solo Bitcoin miner defies odds to mine valid BTC block, gets $150K block reward

Mining a valid BTC block solo is so rare that the event has occurred only 270 times out of the 700,000 blocks produced in the last 13 years.

A solo Bitcoin miner has managed to mine the 780,112th block in the Bitcoin blockchain, receiving a 6.25 Bitcoin (BTC) block reward in return. The estimated value of the payout is over $150,000.

The solo miner was also lucky to have produced a valid hash after just two days of mining, as the event itself is rare, and it can take months for a solo miner to produce a valid hash.

The rare event occurred on March 10 and was the 270th solo mined block in Bitcoin’s 13-year-long history. The event is rare because a solo miner of this size usually solves a block, on average, about once every 10 months.

The miner created a solo mining pool using the Solo CK Pool mining service, for which they produced a valid block hash and were rewarded with 6.25 BTC, with a fee reward of roughly 0.63 BTC.

Con Kolivas, the Solo CK mining pool admin, noted that the miner behind the rare event might have temporarily rented hashing power to produce the output hash.

Solo Bitcoin miner’s output hash.  Source: BTC explorer

Bitcoin mining requires miners to input computational power to solve and add the next Bitcoin block to the network. However, with the growing popularity of BTC mining and the constant rise in the network hash rate and powerful mining machines, it’s near impossible for a solo miner to solve the whole block on their own.

Related: How to mine Bitcoin: A beginners guide to mine BTC

Thus, a valid block hash is often produced using the computational power of multiple mining rigs, all trying to mine the next block. The block reward is distributed according to the input hash rate of each miner in the mining pool.

The Solo CK mining pool has been behind several solo-mined Bitcoin blocks in the past as well. Two of these solo-mined blocks came in January 2022, only two weeks apart, with the first occurring on Jan. 11, 2022, at a block height of 718,124, followed by another on Jan. 24, at a block height of 720,175.

CleanSpark boosts computing power by 37% with thousands of new Bitmain rigs

The Bitcoin miner announced the purchase of 20,000 new Antminer S19j Pro+ at a 25% discount, approximately $13.25 per terahash.

Bitcoin miner CleanSpark is growing its mining capacity in the United States with the purchase of 20,000 new Antminer S19j Pro+ units for $43.6 million. The acquisition is expected to boost the company’s computing power by 37% and brings the total number of miners purchased during the bear market to 46,500 units.

According to a statement on Feb. 16, CleanSpark will pay $32.3 million for the machines after applying coupons at a 25% discount or a total price per terahash (TH) of approximately $13.25. The Pro+ rigs are 22% more productive than their previous models and are planned to be delivered in batches between March and May.

The company is leveraging the market’s lower rig prices to boost its mining capacity, while Bitcoin’s (BTC) price rebounds. According to data from Hashrate Index, the current price per TH of ASICs of the same Bitcoin mining efficiency are currently at $15.09, well below the $90.72 seen 12 months ago. CleanSpark said the Antminer S19j Pro+ model offers a better return on investment compared to the same ASIC-generation machines.

“After they are fully operational, they are expected to add 2.44 EH/s to CleanSpark’s existing 6.6 EH/s of bitcoin mining computing power (for a total of 9 EH/s), constituting a 37% increase,” noted the company. 

Bitcoin ASIC price index. Source: Hashrate Index

CleanSpark claims that the acquired models continue to be more attractive to its operations in the current market conditions. “The S19j Pro+ delivers 122 terahash per machine and saves an average of 2 joules of energy per terahash compared to the S19j Pro model of the same generation.”

A total of 15,000 of the new machines will be delivered to the company’s locations in the city of Washington, Georgia. CleanSpark disclosed in January a $16-million expansion in the site, which is forecasted to increase its hash rate by 2.2 exahashes per second (EH/s), with its total hash rate reaching as high as 8.7 EH/s. The facility was acquired by the company in August last year before taking over Mawson Infrastructure Group’s facility in Sandersville.

After a tough year in 2022 with declining Bitcoin prices and high electricity costs, publicly listed mining companies saw a rise in mining production and hash rates in January, according to an analysis from Hashrate Index. CleanSpark boosted its Bitcoin mining production by 50% during the month, reaching a record monthly production of 697 BTC. Its hash rate rose to 6.6 EH/s from 6.2 EH/s in December.

Other public mining companies, such as Core Scientific, Riot, Marathon and Cipher have seen significant increases in Bitcoin production in the past month, helped by stable electricity prices and better weather conditions in the United States.

Bitcoin mining revenue lowest in two years, hash rate on the decline

The total Bitcoin mining revenue — block rewards and transaction fees — in U.S. dollars fell down to $11.67 million, a number last seen on Nov. 2, 2020, when Bitcoin’s trading price was around $13,500.

The revenue earned by Bitcoin (BTC) miners fell to two-year lows owing to poor market performance and a heavier computational demand amid rising network difficulty. However, an ongoing downturn in the Bitcoin hash rate over the past month has allowed miners to recoup losses.

The total Bitcoin mining revenue — block rewards and transaction fees — in United States dollars fell down to $11.67 million, a number last seen on Nov. 2, 2020, when Bitcoin’s trading price was around $13,500.

While the current market price of around $16,500 suggests an obvious increase in mining revenue, factors including greater mining difficulty and rising energy prices contribute to lower income in dollar terms.

Adding to the above, the difficulty of mining a Bitcoin block has skyrocketed to an all-time high of almost 37 trillion — forcing Bitcoin miners to spend more energy and computational power to stay competitive.

Over the past three months, however, the hash rate of the Bitcoin network witnessed a steady decline. The hash rate stands at 225.9 exahash per second (EH/s), which fell 28.6% from its all-time of 316,7 EH/s on Oct. 31, 2022.

The hash rate is a security metric that helps protect the Bitcoin network from double-spending attacks. However, considering the grand scheme of things, temporary measures taken by the community include acquiring cheaper mining hardware and resettling in jurisdictions with low energy prices.

Related: Bitcoin miners look to software to help balance the Texas grid

New York City mayor Eric Adams believes that goal to make New York a crypto hub can be combined with statewide efforts to curb environmental costs related to crypto mining.

“I’m going to work with the legislators who are in support and those who have concerns, and I believe we are going to come to a great meeting place,” said Adams while revealing that the city will work with legislators to find a balance between the crypto industry development and legislative needs.

Bitcoin price plummets while miner hash rate soars to all-time highs

The overall security of the Bitcoin protocol, or hash rate, hit a new high of 158 exahash per second despite the price being down over 50% year to date.

Bitcoin miners can’t stop, won’t stop. The Bitcoin (BTC) hash rate continues to surge to new all-time highs, despite a heavy price drawdown. 

The Bitcoin mining hash rate peaked at 258 exahashes per second (EH/s) on Oct. 4, according to Braiins Insights, a mining data tools and metrics company. Although the Bitcoin price is down 58% year-to-date against the United States dollar, the mining hash rate is up 43%.

The past 3 months Hashrate. Source: Braiins. 

Bitcoin Gandalf from the marketing team at Braiins told Cointelegraph that, “The hash rate hitting another all-time high shows that miners are bullish about the future prospects of Bitcoin.” Nonetheless, the current macroeconomic environment could pose an issue, as “the present isn’t so rosy for Bitcoin miners,” Gandalf said, adding:

“Bitcoin continues to trade in this tight band between $19,000–$20,000 and this recent increase in hash rate will result in a sharp upward adjustment in mining difficulty meaning that miner margins will be further squeezed.”

In a series of tweets, mining engineers and hobbyists shared their thoughts regarding the hash rate hitting all-time highs while the price remains low. Rob W of Bitcoin mining company Upstream Data summed up the sentiment: 

Market analyst Zack Voell explained that the surging hash rate could be as a result of “XPs coming online.” The S19 XP Antminer is the latest model from Bitmain, one of the world’s most popular Bitcoin mining hardware suppliers.

The number of hashes produced in a second is commonly referred to as the hash rate. In Bitcoin speak, hash rate is a critical security metric as well as one that many BTC miners keep their eyes on.

In simple terms, the more hashing — or computing power — that the network churns out, the greater the overall security of Bitcoin. As a result, Bitcoin is more resistant to attack, the most common of which is known as a 51% attack.

Currently, more and more miners are coming online to attempt to solve valid blocks to receive the Bitcoin block reward, which is currently 6.25 BTC, roughly $120,000. Blocks are solved and added to the Bitcoin blockchain on average every 10 minutes.

Related: Nuclear and gas fastest growing energy sources for Bitcoin mining: Data

The difficult adjustment determines the rate at which blocks are solved. It fluctuates roughly every two weeks and is expected to increase on Oct. 10 based on the surging hash rate. The difficulty adjustment has been on a steady march upward in 2022 — meaning blocks are, on average, getting harder to solve — after falling for the first time in March 2022.

In sum, despite the fact that the Bitcoin price continues to wallow under $20,000, more and more miners find value in supporting the network. James Check, an analyst at Glassnode, explained in a tweet, “With hash rate pushing to new all-time-highs once again, despite all the promises to the contrary, it appears that #Bitcoin is still not dead.”

CleanSpark scoops up 1K+ mining rigs at ‘substantially discounted price’

“We are seeing unprecedented opportunities in this market,” said CleanSpark president and CEO Zach Bradford.

Crypto mining firm CleanSpark announced the purchase of more than 1,000 Bitcoin miners amid the market downturn, reporting a “substantially discounted price” compared to that earlier in 2022.

In a Thursday blog spot, CleanSpark said it had acquired 1,061 Whatsminer M30S rigs currently mining Bitcoin (BTC) at the Coinmint facility in New York, whose space the company shares with Riot Blockchain. The mining firm said it had purchased the machines for far less of price than that “just a few months ago,” hinting the recent bear market was responsible. CleanSpark also bought 1,800 Antminer S19 XP rigs in June following the market downturn.

“We are seeing unprecedented opportunities in this market,” said CleanSpark president and CEO Zach Bradford. “Our tried-and-true hybrid approach of co-locating our machines while expanding our own mining facilities puts us in an excellent position to sustainably grow our bitcoin mining capacity in what is shaping up to be an incredible market for builders.”

According to CleanSpark, the addition of the 1,063 miners added 93 petahashes per second (PH/s) to the firm’s total hash rate, reported to be 2.8 exahashes per second (EH/s) as of June 30. The miners brought in a 1,863 BTC, 328 of which CleanSpark reported selling in June for roughly $8.4 million “for operations and growth.”

Related: Crypto miners in Texas shut down operations as state experiences extreme heat wave

Major mining firms including Argo Blockchain, Bitfarms, Core Scientific and Riot Blockchain have sold some of their BTC holdings amid the recent market downturn. Argo reported selling 637 BTC in June to reduce its debt on a loan from Galaxy Digital, while other firms have cited building their data capacity and ability to mine more coins.

Cointelegraph reported on Thursday that Bradford had joined Cointelegraph Innovation Circle, a private membership service launched in March aimed at business leaders and experts in the blockchain industry.

CleanSpark scoops up 1K+ mining rigs at ‘substantially discounted price’

“We are seeing unprecedented opportunities in this market,” said CleanSpark president and CEO Zach Bradford.

Crypto mining firm CleanSpark announced the purchase of more than 1,000 Bitcoin (BTC miners amid the market downturn, reporting a “substantially discounted price” compared to that earlier in 2022.

In a Thursday blog spot, CleanSpark said it had acquired 1,061 Whatsminer M30S rigs currently mining Bitcoin at the Coinmint facility in New York, whose space the company shares with Riot Blockchain. The mining firm said it had purchased the machines for far less of price than that “just a few months ago,” hinting the recent bear market was responsible. CleanSpark also bought 1,800 Antminer S19 XP rigs in June following the market downturn.

“We are seeing unprecedented opportunities in this market,” said CleanSpark president and CEO Zach Bradford. “Our tried-and-true hybrid approach of co-locating our machines while expanding our own mining facilities puts us in an excellent position to sustainably grow our bitcoin mining capacity in what is shaping up to be an incredible market for builders.”

According to CleanSpark, the addition of the 1,063 miners added 93 petahashes per second (PH/s) to the firm’s total hash rate, reported to be 2.8 exahashes per second (EH/s) as of June 30. The miners brought in a 1,863 BTC, 328 of which CleanSpark reported selling in June for roughly $8.4 million “for operations and growth.”

Related: Crypto miners in Texas shut down operations as state experiences extreme heat wave

Major mining firms including Argo Blockchain, Bitfarms, Core Scientific and Riot Blockchain have sold some of their BTC holdings amid the recent market downturn. Argo reported selling 637 BTC in June to reduce its debt on a loan from Galaxy Digital, while other firms have cited building their data capacity and ability to mine more coins.

Cointelegraph reported on Thursday that Bradford had joined Cointelegraph Innovation Circle, a private membership service launched in March aimed at business leaders and experts in the blockchain industry.