How to Solo Mine Bitcoin
The chance of successfully mining Bitcoin (ever solving a block) is very slim [1] these days. Whatever the reason is for you do decide to mine Bitcoin without joining a pool, these are the steps to achieve mining Bitcoin by yourself without joining force with others.
You need to run a full node [2] to validate transactions. First, install Bitcoin-core (both GUI and Daemon) with the complete blockchain downloaded. Bitcoin Core is a full node software program that fully validates transactions and blocks. The installation will take a long time because it requires the whole growing blockchain [3] to be downloaded.
Create a file named bitcoin.conf for mining Bitcoin. On a Windows machine, the file location would be: C:\User\yourusername\AppData\Roaming\Bitcoin\bitcoin.conf
This bitcoin.conf is the configuration file for Bitcoin Core. Replace X with your username of choice, Q with the password you want it to be. Y is the TCP port number for RPC connections to listen to, which is the number you'll need for your Bitcoin Miner software.
This bitcoin.conf is the configuration file for Bitcoin Core. Replace X with your username of choice, Q with the password you want it to be. Y is the TCP port number for RPC connections to listen to, which is the number you'll need for your Bitcoin Miner software.
server=1
listen=1
daemon=1
rpcuser=X
rpcpassword=Q
rpcallowip=localhost
rpcport=Y
Download and install the ASIC Bitcoin Miner software like CGMiner, BFGMiner, and many other choices [4].
For a solo miner, the mining software connects you to the blockchain (Bitcoin Core). The main job of the Bitcoin Miner software is to deliver the mining hardware’s work to the rest of the Bitcoin network.
For a solo miner, the mining software connects you to the blockchain (Bitcoin Core). The main job of the Bitcoin Miner software is to deliver the mining hardware’s work to the rest of the Bitcoin network.
Finally, launch Bitcoin Miner software with localhost (127.0.0.1), the rpcport (Y=8332), the username (X), and password (Q) you set in bitcoin.conf. These are the values you chose as the credentials to connect to Bitcoin Core to start solo mining Bitcoin.
References
- [1] https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/16687/solo-mining-just-for-luck-realistic
- [2] https://bitcoin.org/en/full-node
- [3] https://blockchain.info/charts/blocks-size
- [4] https://www.buybitcoinworldwide.com/mining/software/
- https://www.blockchain-council.org/blockchain/solo-mining-works/
- https://cryptocurrencytalk.com/topic/9505-how-to-solo-mine/
