Although criticized for its carbon impact, crypto mining, that of bitcoin in this case, constitutes a profitable activity. The latter is dominated by large, financially powerful companies. But the operation remains accessible to a few independents, some of whom stand out for their efficiency.
When Solo Ckpool makes independent crypto mining relevant
A miner managed to mine Bitcoin block 814,308, collecting, in the process, the full reward linked to this block. This is what reveals some surprising information about the vital activity that crypto mining represents.
If this new is surprising, it is because of the status of the bitcoin miner in question whose identity has not been disclosed. It is in fact a particularly modest miner with only a hashing power of 11 petahashes per second (PH/s).
This level is relatively low compared to the orders of magnitude of mining activities. Hence the relevance of asking, how with such a low hashrate, did the bitcoin miner achieve such a performance?
The answer is that this remarkable achievement was made possible through the use of Solo Ckpool. This is a platform designed for independent miners with lower hashrates or older, less efficient hardware.
Explosion of Bitcoin block additions by independent miners
The exploit achieved by this independent miner with Bitcoin block 814,308 appears not to be an isolated case. It is part of a crypto trend of increasing block additions made by independent miners.
Con Kolivas, the developer who oversees Solo Ckpool revealed that in August 2023, an independent miner had successfully mined Bitcoin block 803,821. This, using only a hashing power of 1 PH/s.
Earlier this year, in June, another independent crypto miner achieved a similar feat involving Bitcoin block 793,607. He achieved this with a hashrate of 17 terahashes per second (TH/s), suggesting the use of an old Bitmain S9 unit.
These remarkable feats of independent miners are not limited to smaller miners with lower hashrates. Indeed, in March 2023, an independent miner with a hashrate of 1 exahash per second (EH/s) mined Bitcoin block 782,845 and Bitcoin block 782,867. Kolivas insisted on the rarity of such exploits. This while emphasizing that a miner with 1 PH/s of hashrate for example, only has a chance of discovering a block once every seven years.
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