Bitaxe setup: solo mining bitcoin at home
A Bitaxe is a small, quiet, open-source miner that turns home mining into a lottery ticket you can hold in one hand.
A Bitaxe is an open-source Bitcoin miner built around a Bitmain mining chip (one on most models); the Bitaxe Gamma uses the BM1370 and does about 1.2 TH/s. To set it up, power it with a 5 V supply rated 25 to 30 W, join its setup Wi-Fi network, give it your home 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi, then enter a pool and your own Bitcoin address in AxeOS. At November 2026 difficulty, one Gamma mining solo would find a block about once every 16,800 years on average, so treat it as a lottery ticket and a learning tool, and expect no income from it.
What a Bitaxe is
The Bitaxe is an open hardware project. The board designs are published under the CERN-OHL-S-2.0 license, and the firmware, ESP-Miner, is GPL-3.0. The mining chip is a Bitmain ASIC taken from Antminer machines, and it is not open source.
An ESP32-S3 controller on the board runs the firmware and a web dashboard called AxeOS, so the miner works over Wi-Fi with no computer attached. The project lists five boards:
| Model | ASIC | Chip comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Gamma | BM1370 | Antminer S21 Pro |
| Supra | BM1368 | Antminer S21 |
| Ultra | BM1366 | Antminer S19 XP |
| Max | BM1397 | Antminer S17 |
| UltraHex | Six BM1366 | Antminer S19 XP |
The Gamma is the one to buy. Its README estimates about 1.2 TH/s by dividing the S21 Pro's 234 TH/s across its 195 chips, and Bitmain rates the BM1370 at 15 J/TH. The repository publishes the Gamma 601 schematic.
What you need
- A Bitaxe from a seller on the bitaxe.org vendor list. Building one yourself is possible, but the Gamma README calls it an advanced build.
- A 5 V DC power supply with a 5.5 x 2.1 mm center-positive barrel plug that delivers more than 4 A (20 W) without sagging. The README says 25 to 30 W supplies are often needed, and any other voltage will damage the board.
- A 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi network. The ESP32-S3 has no 5 GHz radio.
- A receive address from your own Bitcoin wallet. If the miner ever wins, the reward goes straight to that address, so use a hardware wallet you control.
- Optional: a quieter 5 V PWM fan. The README calls the stock fans poor and suggests a Noctua NF-A4x10 5V.
Setting up a Bitaxe Gamma
For the current steps, follow the Gamma README. The outline below is what the setup involves.
- 1Check that the power supply's label says 5 V, then plug it in.
- 2Join the Bitaxe's own setup Wi-Fi network from your phone or laptop, then give it your home Wi-Fi name and password. Pick the 2.4 GHz network if your router broadcasts two.
- 3Open AxeOS at the miner's IP address and enter a pool, your Bitcoin address as the user (some pools accept a worker name after it), and the password the pool asks for. Add a fallback pool so the miner keeps working if the first one goes down.
- 4Leave frequency and core voltage at the defaults. The Gamma runs hotter than earlier models, and the README warns it is much easier to overheat.
- 5Check the dashboard after a few minutes. You should see hashrate near 1.2 TH/s and accepted shares.
Which pool to point it at
For solo mining, a pool only hands your miner work and broadcasts the block if you find one. I'd pick one of these two.
solo.ckpool.org is the long-running public option. Point the miner at solo.ckpool.org's stratum server, use your Bitcoin address as the username, and any password. It charges a 2% fee on a found block. Its own page says hashrates below 100 GH/s are unrealistic, which a 1.2 TH/s Gamma clears, though the odds below still apply.
Public Pool is a GPL-3.0 solo pool that runs as an app on both umbrelOS and StartOS, connects to your Bitcoin Core node, and charges no fee. If you already run a node (see my node guide), this is the cleaner setup: your miner builds on blocks your own node checked.
Bitaxe profitability: odds and power cost
On November 3, 2026, mempool.space showed network hashrate at about 1,020 EH/s, difficulty at 148.36 trillion, and the latest block at height 974,469 paying the 3.125 BTC subsidy plus 0.0227 BTC in fees.
| Figure | Bitaxe Gamma at 1.2 TH/s |
|---|---|
| Share of network hashrate | About 1 in 850 million |
| Average time to find a block solo | About 16,800 years |
| Chance of a block in any one year | About 0.006%, or 1 in 16,800 |
| Expected value if paid by share | About 51 sats a day, 18,700 sats a year, roughly $14 at about $77,000 per bitcoin |
| Power, assuming 18 W around the clock | About 158 kWh a year, roughly $29 at the August 2026 US residential average of 18.16 cents per kWh |
The 18 W figure is Bitmain's 15 J/TH rating times 1.2 TH/s, so measure your own with a plug-in meter. At US average power prices, a Gamma costs about twice its expected value in electricity. A pool that pays by share would also take a fee.
People buy one anyway because it is the cheapest way to learn how mining works, it adds a little hashrate outside the big pools, and every 10 minutes it holds a real, if tiny, chance at a 3.1 BTC block.
Updating AxeOS and keeping it safe
ESP-Miner releases arrive on GitHub. AxeOS has an update page that can check your running firmware's SHA-256 against the official release file. Do not unplug the miner while an update applies. If the dashboard ever stops loading, ESP-Miner offers a recovery page. For the current update steps, follow the project's release notes.
Keep the miner on your home network only. Do not forward its dashboard to the internet, and keep it somewhere with airflow, since the Gamma must have its fan running.
Frequently asked questions
Is a Bitaxe Gamma profitable?
No, not at US average electricity prices. On November 3, 2026 its expected value was about $14 a year against roughly $29 in power. It only pays off if it wins a solo block, which at current difficulty happens to a single Gamma about once in 16,800 years.
What is a Bitaxe?
An open-source Bitcoin miner with a Bitmain ASIC (one on most models, six on the UltraHex), an ESP32-S3 controller, and a web dashboard called AxeOS. It runs on 5 V power over Wi-Fi with no computer attached.
How much power does a Bitaxe Gamma use?
Around 18 W by Bitmain's 15 J/TH rating for the BM1370 at 1.2 TH/s. The project says to use a 5 V supply that delivers more than 20 W, and often a 25 to 30 W unit.
Can a Bitaxe find a block?
Yes. Every hash has the same chance whether it comes from a Bitaxe or a warehouse, but a Bitaxe makes only about 1 in 850 million of the network's hashes.
Does a Bitaxe work on 5 GHz Wi-Fi?
No. Its ESP32-S3 controller supports 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi only. Most routers broadcast both bands, so pick the 2.4 GHz network during setup.
What pool should I use for a Bitaxe?
For solo mining, solo.ckpool.org (2% fee on a found block) or Public Pool on your own umbrelOS or StartOS node (no fee). Either way, the reward goes to the Bitcoin address you enter.