Solo Bitcoin Miner Strikes Gold—But There’s a Twist

Every Bitcoiner dreams of it: buying a cheap mining rig, solving a block, and taking home the rewards.

That’s exactly what seemed to happen this week when journalist Pete Rizzo flagged on X (formerly Twitter) that a solo miner using a $400 FutureBit Apollo machine managed to mine a block and earn 3.125 BTC—worth nearly $330,000 at today’s prices.

But as Rizzo later clarified, the reality is more complex.

The Hidden Hashrate Boost

While the mining setup did indeed involve a home-grade FutureBit machine, it received a significant boost from external hashrate donations.

“Someone donated hashpower to a home miner, so they could use the reward to fund open-source projects,” Rizzo explained.

In other words, this wasn’t just a lucky solo miner—it was a community-driven experiment orchestrated by Bitcoin nonprofit The 256 Foundation.

The 256 Foundation’s Mining Experiment

On Wednesday, The 256 Foundation set up a self-hosted mining pool using a FutureBit Apollo miner and invited supporters to send hashrate to their pool.

And after about 10 hours, it worked.

“We opted to have supporters send their hashrate to our self-hosted pool running on a FutureBit Apollo, like psychopaths,” wrote pseudonymous Bitcoin enthusiast Econoalchemist on X.
“And we actually solved a block.”

The block reward of 3.125 BTC will now be used to support The 256 Foundation, which aims to decentralize Bitcoin mining and make it accessible to more people.

The Role of Bitcoin Miners

Bitcoin miners are crucial to the network, as they process transactions and secure the blockchain.

However, mining has become increasingly difficult, requiring specialized hardware and large-scale operations.

• In Bitcoin’s early days, it was possible to mine on a home computer.
• Today, most mining is done by large companies operating massive data centers with specialized ASIC miners.
• Electricity costs and network difficulty make solo mining almost impossible—but not entirely.

That’s why efforts like The 256 Foundation’s experiment are important: they demonstrate that home miners can still participate, even if the odds are slim.

A Push for Independent Miners

Despite the low probability of success, many Bitcoin advocates believe that solo mining should remain viable.

Compass Mining Chief Revenue Officer CJ Burnett told Decrypt:

“Home mining with small rigs is a great, tangible way to participate in the Bitcoin network—despite the chances of mining a block being astronomically small.”

“The fun part of home mining is the chance, albeit incredibly rare, that you can win the mining lottery and enjoy the block reward.”

Even large mining operations recognize the value of independent miners, as they help maintain Bitcoin’s decentralization.

What This Means for Bitcoin Mining

This event serves as a reminder that solo mining isn’t entirely dead—especially with community support.

While home miners can’t compete at scale, projects like The 256 Foundation’s initiative show that:

• Decentralized mining is still possible
• Community-driven hashrate pools can create unique opportunities
• Open-source mining projects can fund innovation in Bitcoin tech

For many Bitcoiners, that alone makes experiments like this worthwhile.

Whether this inspires a wave of solo mining efforts remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: even in today’s industrialized mining landscape, there’s still room for the little guy.