A solo Bitcoin miner struck gold early Monday, solving block 960,804 at 02:11 UTC and claiming a reward worth approximately $200,000. The payout was 3.15689830 BTC, consisting of the standard 3.125 BTC block subsidy plus an additional 0.032 BTC in fees from 4,243 transactions. This marks the 317th solo block found through the CKPool mining service, as confirmed by its pseudonymous developer known as Dr -ck.
While the win echoes a string of recent solo mining successes, Dr -ck noted a key distinction: the miner’s hashrate “peaked at 100 PH” and was “wildly variable,” strongly suggesting the use of rented equipment rather than a small home rig. At the time, the total Bitcoin network hashrate stood at 924 exahashes per second, meaning that peak accounted for just 0.011% of the network’s power — translating to an expectation of roughly one block every 64 days. In contrast, a typical hobbyist with a 100 TH/s machine would face odds of about 1 in 62,750 daily, or an average wait of 172 years.
The event unfolded as the community grapples with fallout from a recent exploit of the Coldcard hardware wallet, which reportedly led to losses of around $114 million in BTC. Dr -ck emphasized that “despite the chaos,” the Bitcoin network continues to operate flawlessly. Recent solo block winners include a 70 TH/s miner who netted $225,000 in April and another who earned $210,000 a week earlier. The fixed 3.125 BTC reward will remain until the next halving at block 1,050,000, expected in spring 2028. Bitcoin traded near $63,700 at the time, up slightly on the day.
