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Topic: Is it still possible to solo mine a block? (Read 2691 times)

full member
Activity: 126
Merit: 100
CAUTION: Angry Man with Attitude.
January 26, 2014, 05:17:22 AM
#29
What if the new 3 KNC Neptunes at 10 TH/s overclocked can find several solo blocks in 3 days?
member
Activity: 70
Merit: 10
January 25, 2014, 10:00:28 AM
#28
Instead of all these explanations about profitability, I'll just answer: Yes, theoretically you can.

Thank you. That answers the question that I asked.
newbie
Activity: 7
Merit: 0
January 24, 2014, 09:12:32 PM
#27
From what I gather on mining, solo mining is mostly hit and miss. You're much better joining a pool to maximize your potential earnings.
member
Activity: 84
Merit: 10
January 24, 2014, 07:45:55 PM
#26
i solo mine sometimes, and switch to a pool some other times.

i'm more worried about these constant HW errors from my block erupters.  something to worry about?
newbie
Activity: 22
Merit: 0
January 24, 2014, 01:35:06 PM
#25
I thought about mining solo. Did a lot of research. I am a small time miner and probably will not make my investment back, but it is fun and I decided to go ahead and join a pool. At this late stage in the game for Bitcoin mining, that seems to be the best place. There is no competing with the big dogs with heavy duty mining gear, but the small guy is important too. So find yourself a decent pool and jump in and have some fun and learn something. At least in a pool you will see a little something for your participation. As for making some money, try to buy a Bitcoin once in a while, there is still room for profit.
member
Activity: 66
Merit: 10
Zazzles, cuz, well you know, he's Zazzy...
January 24, 2014, 09:45:20 AM
#24
My question is this: Is it theoretically possible, even if extremely unlikely, that a setup like this can solve a block?

No ... even with my 12GH/s, i don't have solve a block since it has started.
I push 50% of time on pool and 50% on solo mining (not to find but to help transaction fluidity).

But that just means you haven't been lucky enough to find a block going solo? Doesn't mean you won't be able to.

There's every chance for a new solo miner to switch their HW on and find a block straight away, unlikely, but possible. Just depends on how lucky you are.
legendary
Activity: 1512
Merit: 1012
January 24, 2014, 09:14:35 AM
#23
My question is this: Is it theoretically possible, even if extremely unlikely, that a setup like this can solve a block?

No ... even with my 12GH/s, i don't have solve a block since it has started.
I push 50% of time on pool and 50% on solo mining (not to find but to help transaction fluidity).
member
Activity: 66
Merit: 10
Zazzles, cuz, well you know, he's Zazzy...
January 24, 2014, 06:48:02 AM
#22
The more hashing power applied to the network, the more invalid hashes are processed, so I think the chances of a solo miner finding a valid hash are higher as difficulty increases. Thoughts?

~Foyz
legendary
Activity: 2026
Merit: 1034
Fill Your Barrel with Bitcoins!
January 23, 2014, 08:47:51 PM
#21
Yes it is still possible even on a CPU miner. But if you don't mine then it is not possible...
legendary
Activity: 1148
Merit: 1000
January 23, 2014, 11:51:43 AM
#20
Hi how do one solomine?

You just mine not using a pool. There are some good docs on here about how to config ur equipment.  I believe you need to be running a wallet while you mine but that is the only difference.
newbie
Activity: 14
Merit: 0
January 23, 2014, 09:24:42 AM
#19
Hi how do one solomine?
sr. member
Activity: 356
Merit: 250
January 23, 2014, 09:10:42 AM
#18
It's theoretically possible but statistically unlikely.
full member
Activity: 196
Merit: 100
January 23, 2014, 07:59:48 AM
#17
Instead of all these explanations about profitability, I'll just answer: Yes, theoretically you can.
Good answer, to the point.

Yes, it is possible to mine a block yourself going solo. Every nonce has the same chance of finding a block, its just that the more nonces you can try in any given time increases your attempts at finding a block and therefore the greater chance of finding a block sooner.

newbie
Activity: 28
Merit: 0
January 23, 2014, 07:53:49 AM
#16
I personally would rather buy a lottery ticket. It's easier.
sr. member
Activity: 252
Merit: 250
Amateur Professional
January 22, 2014, 09:59:33 PM
#15
Instead of all these explanations about profitability, I'll just answer: Yes, theoretically you can.
sr. member
Activity: 299
Merit: 253
January 22, 2014, 09:42:51 PM
#14
just double your hardware 20 times in a row and you'll mine a block every other day
member
Activity: 84
Merit: 10
January 22, 2014, 09:37:00 PM
#13
Current Difficulty: 1,789,546,951

Your Hashrate: 40mhs

Average generation time for a block (solo): 6093 years, 26 days

http://www.bitcoinx.com/profit/

Your calculation didn't take into account future difficulty increment. So it should be 100000 years...

Yep, sounds about right. Don't even try to solo mine BTC.
sr. member
Activity: 243
Merit: 250
January 22, 2014, 11:53:30 AM
#12
Current Difficulty: 1,789,546,951

Your Hashrate: 40mhs

Average generation time for a block (solo): 6093 years, 26 days

http://www.bitcoinx.com/profit/

Your calculation didn't take into account future difficulty increment. So it should be 100000 years...
member
Activity: 165
Merit: 10
The World’s First Blockchain Core
January 22, 2014, 11:34:51 AM
#11
Current Difficulty: 1,789,546,951

Your Hashrate: 40mhs

Average generation time for a block (solo): 6093 years, 26 days

http://www.bitcoinx.com/profit/
sr. member
Activity: 243
Merit: 250
January 22, 2014, 11:09:06 AM
#10
[Edit: I am also new to this forum. I should probably have posted on a sub category]

This is my first post here and I am new to Bitcoin. I have been doing a lot of reading in the past week and have not been able to find the answer to a question that I have.

First of all I have an old computer with a Nvidia in it which gets about 40M hashes. Before you laugh I am just figuring out how to set stuff up and do not expect this thing to do much but waste power.

My question is this: Is it theoretically possible, even if extremely unlikely, that a setup like this can solve a block? More precisely - is every hash just a random guess and is each guess just as (un)likely to be a correct one?

If the answer is yes then what are the odds of a guess being correct? I have heard things like "at the current difficulty it would take 10,000 years..." But I would like to know "at the current difficulty a hash has the probability of 1 in a billion to be correct". Are the odds worse than, say, Powerball?

Anything is possible my friend. Just don't do it please Smiley
legendary
Activity: 1022
Merit: 1000
January 22, 2014, 09:37:59 AM
#9
It's like winning the lottery. You may solve the block today or tomorrow or next week, or next 100 years.
legendary
Activity: 1148
Merit: 1000
January 22, 2014, 09:23:47 AM
#8
Definitely not 50/50, no I doubt anyone can solo mine unless they have the latest ASICs in clusters.

My mistake...next time I will remember to turn on my sarcasm font!
member
Activity: 70
Merit: 10
January 22, 2014, 09:21:55 AM
#7
Thanks. I did yet more googling and came up with some links to help answer my question.

https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/probability-of-generating-a-block-solo-mining-bitcoin-vs-lottery-156918
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Target


The answer to my question is right there in the second link: It's important to realize that block generation is not a long, set problem (like doing a million hashes), but more like a lottery. Each hash basically gives you a random number between 0 and the maximum value of a 256-bit number (which is huge). If your hash is below the target, then you win. If not, you increment the nonce (completely changing the hash) and try again..
hero member
Activity: 756
Merit: 500
January 22, 2014, 12:51:03 AM
#6
Definitely not 50/50, no I doubt anyone can solo mine unless they have the latest ASICs in clusters.
legendary
Activity: 1148
Merit: 1000
January 22, 2014, 12:49:05 AM
#5
The odds are 50/50
You either solve a block or you don't.
legendary
Activity: 1414
Merit: 2174
Degenerate bull hatter & Bitcoin monotheist
January 21, 2014, 10:58:31 PM
#4
I believe it is your hash rate divided by total hash rate.   So if my math is correct it is 0.000000269% per block or 0.000045% percent chance per day.

Which is on average slightly more than once every 10,000 years if difficulty remained constant as of today.  Which it won't.

Suffice to say you should not expect to solve a block solo mining.
member
Activity: 70
Merit: 10
January 21, 2014, 08:30:09 PM
#3
The odds of winning the Powerball are something around 1 in 176 million which is only slightly better than me guessing your phone number. The odds of a hash solving a block are worse? Do you know what those odds are? I have done a lot of googling and I just get conflicting answers.
full member
Activity: 392
Merit: 116
Worlds Simplest Cryptocurrency Wallet
January 21, 2014, 08:24:23 PM
#2
Theoretically, that is possible.

What are the odds of winning the lottery with just six numbers?

The odds of solving the block by yourself are

many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many,

times lower.
member
Activity: 70
Merit: 10
January 21, 2014, 08:11:47 PM
#1
[Edit: I am also new to this forum. I should probably have posted on a sub category]

This is my first post here and I am new to Bitcoin. I have been doing a lot of reading in the past week and have not been able to find the answer to a question that I have.

First of all I have an old computer with a Nvidia in it which gets about 40M hashes. Before you laugh I am just figuring out how to set stuff up and do not expect this thing to do much but waste power.

My question is this: Is it theoretically possible, even if extremely unlikely, that a setup like this can solve a block? More precisely - is every hash just a random guess and is each guess just as (un)likely to be a correct one?

If the answer is yes then what are the odds of a guess being correct? I have heard things like "at the current difficulty it would take 10,000 years..." But I would like to know "at the current difficulty a hash has the probability of 1 in a billion to be correct". Are the odds worse than, say, Powerball?
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