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If you like a gamble, there’s a fascinating little device called the Lucky Miner SOLO-LV02 now available via AliExpress for a modest $24 outlay. This thumb-sized USB-C connected device needs just 1W of power, access to your Wi-Fi, and a Bitcoin wallet. You set-and-forget it, then wait for the Bitcoins to roll in. However, the leisurely hashrate of the Lucky Miner means that you will indeed be lucky to squeeze any BTC out of it. CNX Software likened the diminutive device to “a lottery ticket for Bitcoin,” offering odds of 210.7 trillion-to-one of mining a single BTC block in a year.
Despite the outlandish odds of mining a Bitcoin block with the Lucky Miner SOLO-LV02, there’s still a chance, right? Yes, but the $24 device’s odds of striking lucky are akin to winning the traditional lottery several times in a row. A better bet might be something like the palm-sized Bitaxe, which famously earned a miner 6.25BTC — worth $206,000 — last year, for a hardware cost of ~$180. That 500 GH/s machine faced odds of around 2,667 to one to mine 1 BTC in a year of mining, so its owner was still very lucky. Commercial ASIC mining machines nowadays will offer hash rates in the hundreds of TH/s region, but also chew through 3kW or more and typically cost $3,000-$5,000 to purchase.
At the time of writing, 1 BTC = $104,000, and thus, successfully mining a Bitcoin block (3.125 BTC) would net you approximately $325,000.
Though you would have to be an extreme optimist to buy the Lucky Miner SOLO-LV02 in order to chase the dream of becoming crypto-rich, the device isn’t without some geeky charm. Powered by an unnamed SoC (suspected ESP32 chip), the mining gadget can’t be described as optimal for its primary purpose, with a weedy hashrate of 72 KH/s. But gadget lovers and tinkerers may be drawn in by its 1.9-inch color TFT display, USB-C port, Wi-Fi connectivity, two-button control, thrifty 1W power consumption, and 85 x 55 x 35mm dimensions. ESP32 devices can, of course, play Doom (for example), so it may be harsh to call the Lucky Miner SOLO-LV02 e-waste.
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Some detective work by CNX Software suggests that, as well as being powered by an ESP32, this USB device is very similar to a DIY project dubbed the NerdSoloMiner v2. The quoted hashrate of 78 kH/s (the same as the Lucky Miner SOLO-LV02) provides another smoking gun.
The Lucky Miner SOLO-LV02 is also available on Amazon.com for $34.
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