Can You Still Mine Bitcoin: A Guide to Successful Home Mining.
Bitcoin mining has captivated the imagination of technologists, investors, and enthusiasts since the cryptocurrency’s inception in 2009. The question, “Can you still mine Bitcoin?” resonates with those curious about participating in this decentralized network. While the landscape has evolved dramatically over the years, opportunities remain for dedicated miners, particularly with innovative hardware like the Bitaxe. This comprehensive guide explores the history, current state, and practical steps for Bitcoin mining success, focusing on home mining, solo mining, pool mining, and the potential rewards of securing the Bitcoin network.
The Evolution of Bitcoin Mining: From CPUs to ASICs
Bitcoin mining began as a democratic endeavor, aligned with Satoshi Nakamoto’s vision of a decentralized financial system where anyone with a computer could contribute to the network. In the whitepaper published on October 31, 2008, Satoshi described Bitcoin as a peer-to-peer electronic cash system secured by computational power, or “mining,” to validate transactions and prevent double-spending. Early miners used standard central processing units (CPUs), the general-purpose processors found in personal computers, to guess numbers required to add blocks to the blockchain.
The CPU Era: Accessibility for All
In 2009, mining was accessible to anyone with a computer. Hal Finney, one of the first Bitcoin adopters, received the inaugural transaction from Nakamoto and mined blocks using his CPU. The network’s low difficulty meant that even modest hardware could compete. However, as Bitcoin gained traction and its value increased, miners sought greater efficiency, exposing the limitations of CPUs, which were not optimized for the repetitive guessing of numbers for mining. If you need a better in depth understanding of bitcoin’s difficulty, see our blog; Understanding Bitcoin’s Network Difficulty: Mining 101.
Hal Finney’s legendary tweet.
The GPU Revolution: Power and Competition
By 2010, miners discovered that graphics processing units (GPUs), originally designed for rendering video game graphics, excelled at parallel processing, making them far more efficient for Bitcoin’s SHA-256 algorithm. GPUs offered a significant leap, processing hundreds of calculations simultaneously compared to CPUs. This shift marked the end of the CPU era, as GPU mining rigs became the standard. While still accessible to hobbyists, the growing competition and rising network difficulty began to favor those with more resources.
NVIDIA GPU for reference
The FPGA Interlude: A Brief Transition
Field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) emerged around 2011 as a bridge between GPUs and specialized hardware. FPGAs were customizable circuits that offered better energy efficiency than GPUs, but their complexity and cost limited widespread adoption. Their reign was short-lived, as a more transformative technology loomed on the horizon.
FPGA mining rig as an example.
The ASIC Era: Specialization and Scale
The introduction of application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs)
in 2013 revolutionized Bitcoin mining. Unlike CPUs or GPUs, ASICs are designed solely for mining Bitcoin, delivering unmatched performance and efficiency. Early ASICs achieved energy efficiencies of around 68 joules per terahash (J/TH), a stark improvement over GPUs and FPGAs. Modern ASICs, such as those from manufacturers like Bitmain and MicroBT, have pushed efficiencies as low as 15 J/TH, making them the only viable option for competitive mining today.
However, the rise of ASICs had a downside for home miners. Industrial-scale operations with access to cheap electricity and bulk hardware purchases dominated the network, driving up costs and complexity. High-end ASICs, often priced in the thousands, require significant cooling infrastructure and power supplies, pricing many hobbyists out of the market. According to SoloSatoshi.com, “What began as a decentralized hobby accessible to anyone with a personal computer has transformed into a highly specialized, capital-intensive industry.” This shift challenged Satoshi’s vision of widespread participation, leaving many to wonder: Can you still mine Bitcoin?
Despite the dominance of large-scale operations, advancements in hardware have rekindled opportunities for home mining. Devices like the Bitaxe have made Bitcoin home mining accessible again, offering a balance of performance, affordability, and efficiency. The question, “Can you still mine Bitcoin?” is answered not just by technology but by strategy—solo mining, lottery mining, and leveraging low-cost electricity can tip the scales in favor of small-scale miners.
Bitaxe 601 Gamma sold by Solo Satoshi
Introducing the Bitaxe: A Game-Changer for Home Mining
The Bitaxe Gamma, developed as part of the open-source hardware movement, is a compact Bitcoin miner designed for solo miners and hobbyists. With a hash rate of 1.2 terahashes per second (TH/s), it delivers professional-grade performance in a home-friendly package. To understand its capabilities, let’s break down the key specifications and their implications.
What Is a Terahash?
A terahash represents one trillion hash calculations per second. In Bitcoin mining, the hash rate measures how quickly a device can attempt to guess the correct nonce required to mine a block. The Bitaxe’s 1.2 TH/s means it performs 1.2 trillion hashes per second, a respectable figure for a single ASIC chip miner compared to industrial rigs that may reach hundreds of TH/s.
Low Power Draw and Efficiency
The Bitaxe Gamma consumes just 18 watts of power, achieving an energy efficiency of 15 joules per terahash (J/TH). The J/TH metric indicates how much energy (in joules) is required to perform one terahash of calculations. Lower values signify greater efficiency, reducing electricity costs. At 15 J/TH, the Bitaxe is among the most efficient home miners, making it ideal for environments where power costs are a concern.
Cost to Run a Bitaxe
To estimate the cost of running a Bitaxe, we consider the median residential electricity rate in the United States, approximately $0.168 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) as of 2025. The Bitaxe’s 18-watt power draw translates to 0.018 kW. Operating continuously for 24 hours consumes:
0.018 kW × 24 hours = 0.432 kWh per day
0.432 kWh × $0.168/kWh = $0.0726 per day
Monthly, this equates to:
0.432 kWh × 30 days = 12.96 kWh
12.96 kWh × $0.168/kWh = $2.177 per month
Annually, the cost is approximately $26.50. These figures assume constant operation and stable electricity rates, but they highlight the Bitaxe’s affordability for home mining, especially compared to industrial miners consuming thousands of watts.
Solo Mining: The Bitcoin Lottery
Solo mining, where an individual miner attempts to solve a block independently, is central to the question, “Can you still mine Bitcoin?” Unlike pool mining, where miners combine resources and share rewards, solo mining offers the chance to claim an entire block reward. As of April 2025, the Bitcoin block reward is 3.125 BTC, plus transaction fees, which vary but typically add a small fraction to the total.
The Potential Reward
At Bitcoin’s current price of $85,000 per BTC, a block reward of 3.125 BTC is worth $265,625, excluding fees. This substantial payout makes solo mining akin to a modern-day lottery, often referred to as Bitcoin lottery mining. Just as a lottery ticket offers a slim chance at a jackpot, solo mining with a device like the Bitaxe provides a low-probability but high-reward opportunity to secure a block.
Securing the Network
Beyond financial incentives, solo mining contributes to Bitcoin’s decentralization. By adding hash power to the network, miners validate transactions and protect against attacks, fulfilling Satoshi’s vision of a distributed system. The Bitaxe’s open-source firmware allows users to customize their setups, further empowering individuals to support the network’s integrity.
The Odds of Success
The likelihood of mining a block depends on the miner’s hash rate relative to the global network’s total, currently around 900.4 exahashes per second (EH/s), or 900.4 quintillion hashes per second. The Bitaxe’s 1.2 TH/s represents a tiny fraction:
With blocks mined every 10 minutes (144 blocks daily), the Bitaxe has a minuscule chance per block. However, tools like the Solo Satoshi Bitcoin Mining Calculator (https://www.solosatoshi.com/bitcoin-mining-calculator/) estimate that small miners occasionally do succeed, as evidenced by two Bitaxes mining blocks within a single year. Patience and persistence are key, as the lottery-like nature rewards those who stay in the game.
Bitaxe Ultra finds block 887212 with only 450 GH/s claiming the full block reward.
Pool Mining: Steady Payouts with the Bitaxe
For miners seeking more predictable returns, pointing the Bitaxe to a shared mining pool offers an alternative to solo mining’s high-stakes lottery. Two recommended options are OCEAN’s DATUM protocol, which requires running a Bitcoin node for decentralized block template construction, and Braiins mining pool, which also provides daily. Both align with the Bitaxe’s capabilities.
How It Works
OCEAN’s DATUM Protocol: DATUM allows miners to create block templates using a Bitcoin full node, enhancing decentralization. Miners need a node (running Bitcoin Knots) and a DATUM gateway to connect the Bitaxe’s 1.2 TH/s to OCEAN. This non-custodial setup ensures rewards are paid directly from the block’s coinbase transaction, though it requires technical expertise like implementing lightning payouts.
Braiins Mining Pool: Braiins offers a Full Pay-Per-Share (FPPS) system, including transaction fees. The Bitaxe connects via AxeOS to Braiins’ stratum servers. Lightning Network payouts enable instant daily rewards with no minimum, requiring a Lightning address (e.g., Wallet of Satoshi or a self-hosted node).
Daily Payouts
With a Bitaxe contributing 1.2 TH/s to either OCEAN or Braiins, miners can expect a small but steady income. Based on current network conditions and pool performance, a Bitaxe typically earns approximately 0.00000062 BTC per day, equivalent to 62 satoshis (sats). At Bitcoin’s price of $85,000, this translates to:
This daily payout of 62 sats reflects the Bitaxe’s modest hash rate relative to the network’s 900.4 EH/s. While $0.05 per day may seem minor, it accumulates over time, yielding about $18.25 annually (0.00000062 BTC × 365 × $85,000). After subtracting the Bitaxe’s annual electricity cost of $26.50, pool mining may not be profitable at median U.S. electricity rates ($0.168/kWh). However, miners in regions with lower rates (e.g., $0.10/kWh, reducing annual costs to $15.77) or those valuing network participation over profit may find pool mining appealing.
Benefits and Trade-Offs
OCEAN’s DATUM: Enhances decentralization with miner-controlled templates and non-custodial payouts via the Transparent Index of Distinct Extended Shares (TIDES). Setup complexity and variable payouts are drawbacks.
Braiins: Offers simplicity and instant Lightning payouts, but fees (1-2%) and potential pool proxying (e.g., to Antpool) may impact decentralization. Both make pool mining with the Bitaxe accessible, offering consistent returns for those answering, “Can you still mine Bitcoin?”
Strategies for Success in Bitcoin Mining
To answer, “Can you still mine Bitcoin?” we must consider practical strategies that maximize efficiency for pool or solo mining.
Solo vs. Pool Mining
Solo mining offers full rewards but demands luck. Pool mining ensures steady payouts, though fees and shared rewards reduce gains. OCEAN and Braiins suit beginners, while solo mining attracts lottery chasers.
Mobile Bitcoin Mining: A Portable Solution
Mobile mining, or mobile Bitcoin mining, takes advantage of the Bitaxe’s lightweight and compact design, weighing just 0.5 pounds and measuring 4x3x2 inches. This portability allows miners to take their Bitaxe anywhere, enabling lottery Bitcoin mining on the go. With a mobile hotspot and a car’s power outlet (using a 12V-to-5V USB-C adapter), miners can operate the Bitaxe on road trips, contributing 1.2 TH/s to solo mining efforts while traveling. The device’s low 18-watt draw, consuming only 0.432 kWh daily, is powered essentially for free by the car’s battery or alternator during drives.
Matt – Co-Founder of Solo Satoshi taking his Bitaxe device on the road to West Texas. Using a hotspot and 12v car outlet, Matt was able to mine bitcoin mobile for 9 hours straight.
The Bitaxe also thrives in temporary accommodations. In hotels or Airbnbs, miners can plug it into a standard outlet and connect to Wi-Fi, running quietly thanks to its 40mm fan. This flexibility suits digital nomads or travelers chasing a 3.125 BTC block reward ($265,625). The Bitaxe’s web interface lets users monitor hash rates remotely, making mobile lottery mining practical and convenient.
Overcoming Challenges
Mining has hurdles. The question, “Can you still mine Bitcoin?” must address:
High Difficulty: The 900.4 EH/s hash rate makes solo wins rare, but the Bitaxe’s low costs help.
Initial Costs: At $150-$200, the Bitaxe is affordable vs. $5,000+ industrial rigs.
Noise and Heat: The Bitaxe’s quiet fan suits home or mobile use, unlike noisy and HOT larger industrial ASICs.
The Future of Bitcoin Mining
Bitcoin mining will keep evolving. Open-source projects like Bitaxe and the NerdQaxe++ counter centralization by industrial farms. Energy-efficient and renewable solutions, like solar mining, align with sustainability. As the block reward halves every four years (next in 2028), fees should grow, favoring low-cost miners.
Conclusion: Can You Still Mine Bitcoin?
Yes, you can still mine Bitcoin, and devices like the Bitaxe make it feasible for home miners to participate. From CPUs to ASICs, Bitcoin mining has transformed, yet the core principle—securing a decentralized network—remains unchanged. Solo mining with a Bitaxe offers a lottery-like chance at 3.125 BTC ($265,625), while pool mining provides steady, modest payouts. By optimizing costs, choosing efficient hardware, and staying informed, miners can succeed in this dynamic field. Whether at home, in a hotel, or on the road, Bitcoin home mining empowers you to contribute to a financial revolution, one hash at a time. Every hash matters!
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