Did you know that only 2% of Bitcoin mining machines can mine new blocks?

According to Decrypt on March 4, PwC blockchain expert Alex de Vries found that only 2% of Bitcoin mining machines can discover new blocks.

(Image source: flickr)

In a recent interview with British news outlet The Telegraph, Vries said that 98% of bitcoin miners – specialized computers that compete to solve cryptographic problems and find new blocks in the blockchain – never get a chance to participate in the transaction verification process.

Once a miner discovers a new block, the miner will receive 12.5 bitcoins as a reward, which is worth about $110,000. For miners who have the funds to buy high-end mining equipment, mining is a profitable investment. However, for those who do not have the money to buy good equipment, the possibility of successfully discovering a block and receiving a reward is much lower.

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Vries said:

This means that 98% of Bitcoin mining machines will not be able to mine blocks during their lifetime. So these mining machines are just running meaninglessly, consuming energy and generating heat.

Each mining machine contributes to the Bitcoin network

Although only 2% of Bitcoin mining machines can mine new blocks, the rest of the mining machines are still contributing to the Bitcoin network.

The vast majority of Bitcoin mining machines serve large mining pools. This allows miners to concentrate their computing power to better discover new blocks. Once a mining pool discovers a new block, the block reward is shared by every participant in the mining pool.

All the miners in the pool have a greater chance of mining new blocks by working together. If a single miner is not connected to the pool, then it is likely wasting time and money.

Bitcoin block 523034 was actually mined by a 5MH/s miner, which may be the luckiest miner in history.

Despite this, some miners who "play it safe" have won big prizes.

This article is translated with permission from DecryptMedia.com.