Two independent Bitcoin miners each earned more than $230,000 after successfully mining a block on November 7, according to blockchain confirmations. Their wins came less than seven hours apart, despite competing against some of the world's most powerful mining operations.
Both miners used CKPool's solo mining service, which allowed them to keep nearly the entire block reward instead of sharing it with other miners. The winning blocks were 974,893 and 974,930.
Solo mining odds versus the lottery
The wins raise a comparison between running a Bitcoin mining machine and buying lottery tickets. Bitcoin mining works much like a lottery: thousands of machines compete to solve a mathematical puzzle, and roughly every ten minutes one wins the right to add a block to the blockchain and collect the reward.
For smaller miners, the odds are brutal. A setup running two or three powerful machines could have roughly a 1-in-40 chance of finding a block over an entire year, based on current network conditions. By comparison, a single Powerball ticket has just a 1-in-292 million chance of winning the jackpot.
Even a tiny home mining device can have better annual odds than buying lottery tickets regularly, although the prizes differ enormously.
The cost of chasing a Bitcoin jackpot
There is a catch. Mining hardware can cost thousands of dollars upfront and must run continuously. A multi-machine setup could generate $400 to $1,100 in monthly electricity bills. A solo miner earns nothing until a block is found, which might take decades.
Meanwhile, rising mining costs and near-record network competition are making it extremely difficult. A single-machine miner won a block in April, showing that smaller operators still have a chance.
The November winners are another reminder that Bitcoin's biggest mining rewards remain within reach of ordinary participants. The odds, however, make winning an extraordinary event.
