‘Extremely lucky’ solo Bitcoin miner beats massive odds to win $266K

A solo Bitcoin miner hit the jackpot on Friday, earning 3.146 BTC, worth roughly $266,000, after solving block 924,569 with only a tiny fraction of the computational power typically needed to win a block reward.

The miner, who is believed to be operating a hobby-grade machine, struck gold with a hash rate of roughly 1.2 terahashes per second (TH/s), which is a speck of dust in an industry dominated by industrial-scale operations producing exahashes (one quintillion hashes per second).

CKpool creator Con Kolivas announced the win on X, congratulating the “extremely lucky” miner and noting just how improbable the event was. He estimated that the odds translate to about 1.2 million to one per day at the miner’s reported hash rate.

The miner received 3.125 Bitcoin (BTC) from the block subsidy plus 0.021 BTC in transaction fees, bringing the total to just over 3.146 BTC, according to onchain data.

Related: Bitcoin ASIC producer Bitmain under US investigation over national security risks: Report

Solo Bitcoin miners see more wins in 2025

Despite the industrial mining landscape, 2025 has become an impressive year for solo miners. According to Mempool Space, 13 solo-mined blocks have been found through CKpool this year, averaging just over one a month.

Last month, a solo Bitcoin miner secured a $347,455 reward after independently solving block 920,440, earning 3.125 BTC plus fees entirely on their own.

Earlier in July, another miner with just 2.3 petahashes of power claimed a full block reward, while similar wins were recorded in June, March and back in February.

Related: Bitcoin miner HIVE shares boost 7.5% on record quarterly revenue

Bitcoin miners pivot toward AI

Major miners are seeking new revenue sources beyond Bitcoin mining, especially after the latest halving tightened their margins.

CleanSpark has already begun shifting into AI-focused data center infrastructure, a move that sent its stock up 13% after the expansion was first announced in October.