What Is Bitcoin Solo Mining and Is It Worth It in 2026?

What Is Bitcoin Solo Mining and Is It Worth It in 2026?

As we move deeper into 2026, Bitcoin solo mining continues to capture the imagination of home miners and hobbyists worldwide. The idea is simple: mine alone, win alone. No pool fees, no splitting rewards — just you versus the network. But is it actually worth it? In this guide, we break down everything you need to know about solo mining in 2026: how it works, what hardware you need, and whether the numbers make sense for home miners in Europe.

What is Bitcoin Solo Mining?

Bitcoin solo mining means you connect your ASIC miner directly to the Bitcoin network (or a solo mining pool) and compete independently to find the next block. Every miner on the planet is essentially solving the same puzzle — a SHA-256 cryptographic hash — and the first one to find the solution wins the block reward.

Unlike pool mining, where thousands of miners combine their hashrate and share rewards proportionally, solo mining is all-or-nothing. You either find a block and collect the entire reward, or you collect nothing. Think of it as a lottery ticket: your odds depend entirely on what fraction of the total network hashrate you control.

Pros and Cons of Solo Mining

Why solo mining appeals to home miners

• Full block reward. After the April 2024 halving, the current block reward is 3.125 BTC per block. If you find one, it's yours entirely — no splits, no deductions.
• No pool fees. Most pools charge 1–3% of your earnings. Solo mining cuts that out completely.
• Privacy and autonomy. You don't report your hashrate to a third-party pool operator. Full sovereignty over your hardware.
• It's actually happened. Solo miners with small setups have found blocks — it's rare, but it happens. In 2024 and 2025 there were several documented cases of home miners winning blocks with modest hardware.

The honest downsides

• Extremely low probability. The Bitcoin network currently processes over 800 EH/s of total hashrate. A single Antminer S21 Pro (234 TH/s) represents roughly 0.000000029% of the network. You could mine for years without hitting a block.
• Irregular income. Pool mining gives you small, predictable daily payouts. Solo mining might pay nothing for months, then a massive windfall. If you need consistent cash flow to cover electricity, solo mining is not for you.
• Hardware investment. You need efficient, modern hardware. Older miners waste electricity without enough hashrate to improve your odds meaningfully.

How to Calculate Your Solo Mining Odds

The math is straightforward. Your probability of finding the next block equals your hashrate divided by the total network hashrate. With a 200 TH/s miner and a network at 800 EH/s:

200 TH/s ÷ 800,000,000 TH/s = 0.000000025% per block attempt.

On average, the network finds a block every 10 minutes. So your expected time between blocks is roughly:

10 minutes × (800,000,000 ÷ 200) = ~4,000,000,000 minutes = ~7,600 years

That's the average. You could get lucky tomorrow, or never. It's genuinely random. Use a profitability calculator like asicminersprofitability.com to run your specific numbers.

Best Hardware for Solo Mining in 2026

If you're serious about solo mining, you want the highest hashrate per watt you can afford. Here are the categories worth considering:

High-performance ASIC miners

The Bitmain Antminer S21 and S21 Pro series and the MicroBT Whatsminer M60 series represent the current top tier. These machines deliver 200–300+ TH/s while maintaining reasonable efficiency (17–21 J/TH). More hashrate = better odds, plain and simple.

Home-friendly mini miners

For hobbyists who want to participate without the noise and heat of a full data-centre-grade miner, mini Bitcoin miners like the NerdAxe or Bitaxe are worth exploring. They run quietly, consume minimal power (under 20W), and are genuinely fun to run at home. Your odds of finding a block are astronomically low, but the electricity cost is equally tiny — and the experience of running your own node is real.

Mid-range options

The Bitmain Antminer S23 Hyd 3U offers impressive hashrate with liquid cooling — ideal if you're building a small home setup with serious intentions. Efficient hardware reduces your break-even electricity cost and gives you more hashrate per euro spent.

Is Solo Mining Profitable in 2026?

Profitability depends on four variables: Bitcoin price, mining difficulty, your hashrate, and your electricity cost. In Europe, residential electricity runs €0.20–0.35/kWh in most countries, which makes marginal efficiency critical.

At €0.25/kWh, a 3,500W miner costs roughly €2,100/year in electricity. If Bitcoin is trading at €80,000 and you find one block per year (which would require extraordinary luck or enormous hashrate), you earn 3.125 BTC = €250,000 — obviously profitable. But that's the jackpot scenario.

The realistic view: treat solo mining as a long-running lottery ticket. Your expected value per day is tiny, but non-zero. If you're already running a miner for pool mining, pointing it at a solo pool occasionally costs you nothing extra and gives you a small chance at a much larger reward.

Many European home miners run a hybrid strategy: pool mine most of the time for predictable income, occasionally switch to solo mining when they want to take a shot at the full reward.

Conclusion: Should You Solo Mine in 2026?

Solo mining is not a reliable income strategy for most home miners — the odds are simply too long. But as a hobby, an experiment, or a way to participate meaningfully in the Bitcoin network, it has genuine appeal. The thrill of running your own node, the slim but real chance of a life-changing block reward, and the satisfaction of mining without giving a cut to a pool operator — these things have value beyond pure profit calculations.

If you have efficient hardware, low electricity costs, and the patience to play a long game, solo mining is worth exploring. Start by understanding your numbers, choosing the right hardware, and connecting to a reputable solo mining pool that lets you keep 100% of any block you find.

Ready to explore your options? Browse our selection of home miners and professional ASIC miners, or contact us if you need help choosing the right setup for solo mining in 2026.