Solo Miner Wins $244K Bitcoin Jackpot After 40-Day Drought
Bitcoin (BTC)
Editor:
Eugene Serbin
news.bitcoin.com reports that a solo miner secured a $244,920 jackpot at block height 966351, ending a nearly 40-day drought for individual block discoveries. The winner, operating through Braiins Solo pool, collected 3.147 BTC from the block subsidy and fees. This event highlights the difficulty of solo mining, where miners compete against industrial pools like Foundry, Antpool, F2pool, ViaBTC, and Spiderpool, which control 78.31% of the hashrate.
Unlike pool mining, which offers predictable payouts, solo mining functions as a lottery where the winner takes the entire reward. Braiins CEO Eli Nagar congratulated the miner, noting that someone is having a very good day. The previous solo block was found on August 2 at block 960804 via Solo CKPool.
These two services account for the network's last two long-shot winners. The feat demonstrates that even in 2026, small-scale miners can still secure full blocks despite overwhelming competition. The event serves as a reminder that the Bitcoin mining lottery occasionally rewards individual participants.
This win contrasts with the routine block discoveries of large mining giants. The miner successfully navigated the mathematical contest against the network's enormous computing power. Braiins Solo handled the infrastructure while the miner supplied the hash power. This achievement marks a rare victory for non-pool participants in the current mining landscape.
How the market reacted
Whalio's own Binance spot order flow for BTC, measured when this story was written up on 12 September 2026. Not the outlet's figures.
BTC is trading at $77,225.70 with a 1-hour buy ratio of 50.8% and a 4-hour buy ratio of 53.4%, indicating short-term buying pressure. These ratios exceed the 24-hour buy ratio of 50.0%, suggesting that recent activity is slightly more bullish than the daily average. The 1-hour volume delta is positive at $226,602, while the 4-hour delta is significantly higher at $11,347,940. This positive volume delta means buyers are actively absorbing sell orders in the immediate and medium term. However, the 24-hour volume delta is negative at -$503,152, showing that net selling pressure has dominated the full day. The cumulative volume delta (CVD) for the 24-hour period is +$3,051,877, indicating that total buying volume has outweighed total selling volume over the last day. Net buying occurred for 12 of the last 24 hours, showing a split in intraday momentum.
The latest daily buy ratio of 46.7% sits at the 18th percentile of the last 322 days, against a median of 49.2% - weaker buying than most days.
Was that an ordinary day?
The same Binance spot measurements for BTC, averaged over the days leading up to the story.
The current 24-hour buy ratio of 50.0% is higher than the 7-day average of 46.4%, representing a 3.6 point increase in buying preference. Spot volume for the day is $1,528,809,492, which is 1.40 times the weekly average, indicating unusually high activity. Despite this volume spike, the 8-day volume delta total is -$580,119,242, showing that the broader weekly trend remains net negative. The price has dropped 3.1% over the past 8 days, confirming that the recent buying pressure has not yet reversed the weekly downtrend. This day is unusual due to the elevated volume relative to the average, even though net buying days remain zero out of seven for the week.