A solo miner has successfully mined block #927,474 on the Bitcoin network. The reward amounted to 3.133 BTC ($284,661), including 0.008 BTC ($689.5) in network fees.
The user operated with a hash rate of 270 TH/s, confirmed CKPool administrator Con Kolivas. The odds of success with such power were approximately 1 in 30,000 per day.
This marks the 311th block in history to be added to the network by individual miners using the platform. CKPool offers the opportunity to mine Bitcoin with the potential to receive the entire reward. The pool charges a 2% fee on the sum.
In November, a user of the platform calculated a block with equipment having a hash rate of only 6 TH/s. Kolivas described the miner, who earned $264,558, as “incredibly lucky.”
Network Difficulty Continues to Decline
On December 11, following the latest recalculation, Bitcoin mining difficulty adjusted by 0.74% to 148.2 T.
After reaching an all-time high of 155.97 T at the end of November, the metric has decreased for the third consecutive time. However, the depth of each correction has been diminishing. The current forecast suggests a slight recovery of the metric at the next change in about two weeks.
According to Glassnode, the global Bitcoin hash rate (7 DMA) is approximately 1.1 ZH/s. The current trend indicates movement towards record levels around 1.15 ZH/s, observed in mid-October.
On November 21, amid Bitcoin’s price drop to $83,000, the hash price fell to its lowest point of the year—around $34 per PH/s per day. Even after the recovery of the digital gold’s price to above $90,000, the mining profitability metric could not exceed $40 per PH/s per day.
In November, MARA CEO Fred Thiel stated that miners are entering a challenging period due to increased competition and declining mining profitability.
Industry experts believe the sector is experiencing the most severe profit crisis in its history.
