A solo Bitcoin miner has overcome near-impossible odds to successfully mine a block of Bitcoin and win a reward worth around $271,000 (or 3.125 BTC plus transaction fees). This feat will remain etched in the annals of history because of the scale of investment involved, just $86 worth of rented hashpower (computational mining equipment), as against the millions industrial Bitcoin firms invest in equipment, hashpower and electricity.
The anonymous miner operated independently without any mentor or investor. Statistically, the odds for any such solo effort against the incredible competition to mine a block are minuscule, considering the immense difficulty in mining a single block.
Generally, most independent miners use marketplaces like NiceHash to rent hashpower for their efforts, and collectively work to win mining blocks. Solo mining has become rare due to the incredibly slim chances of success, while the competition has intensified due to the emergence of huge industrial mining farms.
This achievement will remain an exception, even as news of such achievements are now like winning a car race while riding a humble cycle.
In November, another user managed to win a block with limited money and time. With just under 1.3 million BTC left to mine, the competition is intensifying to a level where the costs incurred to mine a single block have increased substantially. Moving ahead, the reward for mining each block is set to be reduced, and these developments are going to be even rarer.
