Is solo mining Monero worth it?

It depends on your hashrate. At the current network hashrate (~2.5 GH/s), solo mining expected block times: 10,000 H/s = ~580 days per block; 50,000 H/s = ~116 days; 100,000 H/s = ~58 days; 1,000,000 H/s = ~6 days. Each block reward is ~0.6 XMR. Solo mining is 'lottery mining' — high variance, but when you find a block, you keep 100% (no pool fee). For most home miners with <50 KH/s, P2Pool is better (regular payouts, still decentralized, zero fees).

How do I solo mine Monero?

Setup: (1) Run a full Monero node — download monerod, sync the blockchain (~180GB, or ~70GB pruned). (2) Start monerod with mining RPC enabled: monerod --rpc-bind-port=18081. (3) Configure XMRig to point at your node: pool URL = 127.0.0.1:18081, daemon mode. (4) Run XMRig. When you find a block, the 0.6 XMR reward goes directly to your wallet. No registration, no pool, no KYC, maximum decentralization.

What is the expected time to find a block solo mining Monero?

Formula: (Network Hashrate / Your Hashrate) × Block Time. With ~2.5 GH/s network and 120-second blocks: 10 KH/s → 250,000 blocks × 2 min = ~347 days average. 50 KH/s → ~69 days. 100 KH/s → ~35 days. 500 KH/s → ~7 days. 1 MH/s → ~3.5 days. These are averages — actual time follows Poisson distribution. You might find a block in 1 hour or wait 3x the expected time. That's the lottery aspect.

What's the difference between solo mining and P2Pool?

Solo mining: you run monerod, XMRig mines directly against the daemon, you keep 100% of any block you find, but income is extremely variable (you might wait months between blocks). P2Pool: you run p2pool alongside monerod, XMRig mines to P2Pool, shares are tracked on a sidechain, and block rewards are distributed proportionally. P2Pool gives more frequent (smaller) payouts, zero fees, and still decentralizes the network. For miners under 100 KH/s, P2Pool mini is almost always better than solo.

Can I solo mine Monero on a laptop?

Technically yes, but practically inadvisable. A laptop CPU might produce 2,000-5,000 H/s — expected block time would be 1-3 years. The electricity cost over that period would likely exceed the 0.6 XMR block reward. Laptop cooling is also not designed for sustained 100% CPU load (thermal throttling, fan noise, reduced component lifespan). If you want to mine on a laptop: use P2Pool mini instead of solo mining. You'll get small regular payouts rather than waiting years for a single block.

Monero Solo Mining (2026)

Q: How do I solo mine Monero?

Setup: (1) Run a full Monero node — download monerod, sync the blockchain (~180GB, or ~70GB pruned). (2) Start monerod with mining RPC enabled: monerod --rpc-bind-port=18081. (3) Configure XMRig to point at your node: pool URL = 127.0.0.1:18081, daemon mode. (4) Run XMRig. When you find a block, the 0.6 XMR reward goes directly to your wallet. No registration, no pool, no KYC, maximum decentralization.

Q: What is the expected time to find a block solo mining Monero?

Formula: (Network Hashrate / Your Hashrate) × Block Time. With ~2.5 GH/s network and 120-second blocks: 10 KH/s → 250,000 blocks × 2 min = ~347 days average. 50 KH/s → ~69 days. 100 KH/s → ~35 days. 500 KH/s → ~7 days. 1 MH/s → ~3.5 days. These are averages — actual time follows Poisson distribution. You might find a block in 1 hour or wait 3x the expected time. That's the lottery aspect.

Q: What's the difference between solo mining and P2Pool?

Solo mining: you run monerod, XMRig mines directly against the daemon, you keep 100% of any block you find, but income is extremely variable (you might wait months between blocks). P2Pool: you run p2pool alongside monerod, XMRig mines to P2Pool, shares are tracked on a sidechain, and block rewards are distributed proportionally. P2Pool gives more frequent (smaller) payouts, zero fees, and still decentralizes the network. For miners under 100 KH/s, P2Pool mini is almost always better than solo.

Q: Can I solo mine Monero on a laptop?

Technically yes, but practically inadvisable. A laptop CPU might produce 2,000-5,000 H/s — expected block time would be 1-3 years. The electricity cost over that period would likely exceed the 0.6 XMR block reward. Laptop cooling is also not designed for sustained 100% CPU load (thermal throttling, fan noise, reduced component lifespan). If you want to mine on a laptop: use P2Pool mini instead of solo mining. You'll get small regular payouts rather than waiting years for a single block.

Run your node, find blocks, keep 100% of the reward

TL;DR: Solo mining = your node + XMRig, no pool. You keep the full ~0.6 XMR block reward. But with 10 KH/s, expect ~1 block per year. It's lottery mining — exciting when it hits, painful when it doesn't. Most miners are better off with P2Pool mini (zero fees, regular payouts, still decentralized).

Expected Block Time

Your Hashrate	Expected Wait	Reward	Annual Value*
5,000 H/s	~2.3 years	0.6 XMR	~0.26 XMR
10,000 H/s	~1.2 years	0.6 XMR	~0.5 XMR
50,000 H/s	~69 days	0.6 XMR	~3.2 XMR
100,000 H/s	~35 days	0.6 XMR	~6.3 XMR
500,000 H/s	~7 days	0.6 XMR	~31 XMR
1,000,000 H/s	~3.5 days	0.6 XMR	~63 XMR

*Theoretical average. Actual results follow Poisson distribution — could be 10x faster or 3x slower than average.

Formula: (Network_Hashrate / Your_Hashrate) × Block_Time. With ~2.5 GH/s network and 120s blocks.

Setup

1. Run monerod (full node):

monerod --rpc-bind-port=18081 --confirm-external-bind \
  --prune-blockchain --db-sync-mode=safe

Wait for blockchain sync (~180GB full, ~70GB pruned). First sync takes 12-48 hours.

2. Configure XMRig for daemon mode:

{
  "pools": [{
    "url": "127.0.0.1:18081",
    "user": "YOUR_MONERO_ADDRESS",
    "daemon": true
  }],
  "cpu": { "enabled": true, "huge-pages": true }
}

3. Run XMRig: ./xmrig. Watch for accepted blocks in the output.

Solo vs P2Pool vs Pool

Factor	Solo	P2Pool	Traditional Pool
Fee	0%	0%	0.6-1%
Payout variance	Extreme	Low	Lowest
Min hashrate	~100 KH/s practical	Any (mini)	Any
Decentralization	Maximum	High	Centralized
Registration	None	None	Email usually
Trust required	None	None	Pool operator
Node required	Yes (full)	Yes (can be pruned)	No

When Solo Mining Makes Sense

Do solo mine if: You have 100+ KH/s (multiple machines, server, EPYC). You enjoy the lottery aspect. You want maximum decentralization. You already run a node.

Don't solo mine if: You have <50 KH/s (single desktop). You need predictable income. You don't want to run a full node. Use P2Pool mini instead.

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Monero Solo Mining (2026)

Expected Block Time

Setup

Solo vs P2Pool vs Pool

When Solo Mining Makes Sense

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