Despite the increasing difficulty of minting digital currencies, solo Bitcoin miners appear to be having a great year.
On Thursday, an individual miner successfully processed a block on the largest cryptocurrency network and took home a total of 3.329 Bitcoins (worth $222,438) as a reward. Blockchain data shows that the block contains 3,285 transactions and was processed at 4:18 a.m. ET.
Bitcoin mining is an energy-intensive process of processing blocks on the cryptocurrency network. Blocks are filled with transaction data and are part of the Bitcoin blockchain. The Bitcoin blockchain is a nearly impenetrable ledger and one of the most secure computing networks on the planet.
Once a block is processed, miners are rewarded with newly minted coins. This will give a fixed reward of 3.125 BTC, along with transaction fees paid by people using the network during a given block window.
In the past, almost anyone could participate in the mining process and mint new coins from home. However, as the network grew, the difficulty of mining increased significantly. Currently, mining operations typically take place in the warehouses of large companies and consume large amounts of electricity.
Bitcoin mining became even more difficult in April when the network underwent its once-every-four-year halving. This event is built into the network’s code, and miners’ rewards are halved every four years.
Now, mining operations have to work harder and receive fewer Bitcoins for their work. Before the April halving event, miners received 6.25 Bitcoins for each block processed. Before that, the reward was 12.5 Bitcoins. 25BTC before that. When the Bitcoin blockchain was first launched in 2009, the mining subsidy was 50 Bitcoins.
Miners receive fewer Bitcoins every four years, but the cryptocurrency has skyrocketed in value since the network’s inception, allowing miners to stay in control of their operations and stay in the game. Since the first Bitcoin halving in 2012, Bitcoin has appreciated by 548,604%, with its current price at approximately $67,650.
However, there are also solo miners who, although rare, may get lucky and process blocks themselves. So far this year, private miners have made big profits in April, July, August and September, ahead of Thursday’s private mine.
Edited by Andrew Hayward
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