Which Coin to Solo Mine — BTC vs BCH vs 3 More
Which SHA-256 coin to solo mine: block reward, difficulty and realistic odds for Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash and three more chains, compared side by side.
SoloFury runs five SHA-256 coins — BTC, BCH, BC2, BCH2, and XEC — on one pool with a unified 1% fee, so your ASIC can switch between them by changing one line of config. The right choice depends almost entirely on matching your hashrate to a coin’s network difficulty: small miners get realistic odds on low-difficulty coins like BCH2, while BTC stays a multi-decade lottery even for large fleets. This guide gives you the framework, real time-to-block numbers, and a decision tree to pick the coin that fits your hardware.
Key Takeaways
- The deciding factor is hashrate versus difficulty. Pick the coin where your hashrate has realistic odds, not the one with the biggest reward.
- BCH2 has the lowest difficulty of the five — the best realistic odds for Bitaxe-class hardware.
- BTC is a multi-decade-to-millennia lottery for almost everyone. Even 1 PH/s averages roughly 15–20 years to a block.
- BCH is the sweet spot for serious solo miners running hundreds of TH/s up to a few PH/s.
- Switching coins is free and instant — change the host, port, and wallet format. Many miners rotate between coins.
What coins does SoloFury support?
Every coin SoloFury runs uses the SHA-256 algorithm, so the same ASIC mines all of them — what changes is the network difficulty, the block reward, and the ecosystem behind each chain.
| Coin | Block reward | Block time | Halving |
|---|---|---|---|
| BTC | 3.125 BTC | ~10 min | ~every 4 years (next ~April 2028) |
| BCH | 3.125 BCH | ~10 min | ~every 4 years (next ~April 2028) |
| BC2 | 50 BC2 | ~10 min | check BC2 documentation |
| BCH2 | 50 BCH2 | ~10 min | BCH-synced (~April 2028) |
| XEC | ~3,125,000 XEC (solver receives ~58% per eCash protocol) | ~10 min | ~every 4 years |
For current USD values, use the live Profitability Calculator and Network Radar; to see which coins SoloFury miners have actually found blocks on, browse the Hall of Fame.
Why is network difficulty the most important number?
Network difficulty determines the probability that any hash you compute wins a block. Lower difficulty means easier blocks and better odds for small solo miners — and the five coins span an enormous range.
| Coin | Difficulty tier | Solo feasibility |
|---|---|---|
| BTC | Extreme | Realistic only for very large fleets, otherwise an ultra-long-odds lottery |
| BCH | High | Realistic for serious solo miners (hundreds of TH/s and up) |
| BC2 | Medium-low | Realistic for mid-size miners (tens to hundreds of TH/s) |
| XEC | Low-medium | Realistic for small-to-mid setups |
| BCH2 | Lowest of the five | Best odds for Bitaxe-class miners (TH/s scale) |
Difficulty changes constantly as hashrate enters and leaves each network, so check current values on the Network Radar rather than trusting a fixed number.
How long until you find a block?
This is where the math gets concrete. For solo lottery mining, the mean time to find a block is:
Expected time (seconds) = network_difficulty × 2^32 / your_hashrateThis is the average of a Poisson process — actual results vary enormously. The tables below use representative current difficulties; for your exact odds at your exact hashrate, use the Profitability Calculator, since the low-difficulty coins in particular move a lot.
At 1 TH/s (one Bitaxe Gamma)
| Coin | Mean time to block | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| BTC | Tens of thousands of years | Pure lottery — do not expect to find |
| BCH | Many decades | Pure lottery |
| BC2 | A year or more | Rare but possible |
| XEC | Several months | Realistic over time |
| BCH2 | Weeks to months | Best odds of the five |
At 235 TH/s (one Antminer S21+)
| Coin | Mean time to block |
|---|---|
| BTC | Many decades |
| BCH | A few months |
| BC2 | Days to weeks |
| XEC | Days to a week |
| BCH2 | A day to a few days |
At 1 PH/s (four to five S21+ or a rented burst)
| Coin | Mean time to block |
|---|---|
| BTC | Around 15–20 years |
| BCH | A few weeks |
| BC2 | About a day |
| XEC | Under a day |
| BCH2 | Hours |
These are means, not schedules. A coin with a one-week mean can deliver a block on day one or on day thirty. For the math behind the variance, read the Solo Mining Variance article.
How much is each block worth?
Lower difficulty only helps if the reward is meaningful in fiat. The trade-off across coins:
| Coin | Reward value per block | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| BTC | Highest by far (five to six figures USD) | Most stable price, hardest to find |
| BCH | Mid-range (low four figures USD) | More volatile than BTC |
| BC2 | Smaller per block, but far lower difficulty | Highly variable |
| XEC | Smaller per block at current price | Variable |
| BCH2 | Smaller per block, but the easiest to find | Variable |
The lottery value of each coin is roughly:
reward_in_USD / network_difficultyA high ratio means more expected value per unit of hashrate. For small-to-mid miners, BCH2 typically has the best reward-per-difficulty, because its difficulty is dramatically lower than BTC while it still pays real BCH-family value.
Coin-by-coin profiles
Bitcoin (BTC)
The reference: highest reward, highest difficulty, most stable price. For any individual miner under about 10 PH/s, the expected time-to-block is measured in many years to millennia. Mine BTC if you have very large hashrate, or you want the ultra-long-odds shot at the biggest prize, or you simply want to accumulate BTC and do not mind likely never finding a block.
Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
Lower difficulty than BTC, real ecosystem value, mature network — the sweet spot for serious solo miners running hundreds of TH/s up to a few PH/s. The reward is meaningful in fiat and the difficulty is reachable on a months-to-weeks horizon at that scale. Mine BCH if you have that hashrate, believe in BCH long-term, or want the most mature ecosystem outside BTC.
Bitcoin II (BC2)
A SHA-256 fork with significantly lower difficulty than BCH and a fixed 50-coin block reward. Less mature ecosystem and thinner exchange support, but the lower difficulty makes regular block discovery accessible to mid-size miners. Mine BC2 if you run tens to hundreds of TH/s and want regular blocks without BTC-level odds.
eCash (XEC)
eCash descends from a Bitcoin Cash fork and secures SHA-256 proof-of-work with an Avalanche post-consensus layer. Lower hashrate and difficulty, a forward-looking roadmap, and the smallest denomination of the five. Note its block reward is split per protocol — the solver receives roughly 58%. Mine XEC if you want a small-to-mid setup with regular blocks and like the Avalanche-augmented model.
Bitcoin Cash II (BCH2)
The lowest difficulty of all five SoloFury coins, with a fixed 50-coin reward. Smaller community than BCH, but for small solo miners this is the most realistic chain to actually find a block on a reasonable timeline. Mine BCH2 if you run Bitaxe-class hardware, or you want to experience finding a block within weeks-to-months instead of years, or you are new to SoloFury and want to see the whole system work end to end.
Which coin fits your hashrate?
Use this decision tree based on your continuous hashrate.
What's your continuous hashrate?
├── 1-10 TH/s (Bitaxe, NerdQAxe class)
│ └── Primary: BCH2 (most realistic discovery)
│ Secondary: XEC, BC2 (variety)
│ Lottery shot: BTC (astronomically rare, but big if it hits)
│
├── 50-500 TH/s (1-2 ASICs, S19 class)
│ └── Primary: BC2 or XEC (regular blocks)
│ Secondary: BCH2 (very frequent), BCH (occasional)
│ Lottery shot: BTC (still pure lottery)
│
├── 500 TH/s - 1 PH/s (2-5 ASICs, S19/S21 class)
│ └── Primary: BCH (sweet spot for serious solo)
│ Secondary: BC2, XEC (regular blocks for variety)
│ Lottery shot: BTC (long odds, but not impossible at scale)
│
└── 1 PH/s+ (large fleet or rental burst)
└── Primary: BCH (consistent discovery)
Secondary: BC2, XEC, BCH2 (very frequent)
Lottery shot: BTC (a ~15-20 year mean, so still a moonshot)Can you mine multiple coins?
Many SoloFury miners do not pick one coin — they rotate based on current difficulty and ecosystem developments, which is free: change the pool URL and you are on a different coin in seconds.
Background BCH, burst BCH2. Mine BCH continuously for value accumulation and switch to BCH2 for short bursts during favorable difficulty windows.
BC2 main, BCH2 weekend. Mine BC2 on weekdays for steady discovery, switch to BCH2 on weekends for higher block frequency.
Diversified fleet. Split several ASICs across different coins (skip BTC unless you run over 1 PH/s) so each pursues a different lottery.
Difficulty hunter. Watch the Network Radar and rotate to whatever coin has the lowest difficulty right now, often just after a downward adjustment. The highest theoretical edge, but it needs active management — and remember rental bursts are negative-EV on average (see the Difficulty Adjustment Calendar).
How do you switch coins?
To move an ASIC from one SoloFury coin to another:
- Open your ASIC’s web interface (or a fleet manager).
- Update the pool host and port — both change per coin. Use the matching pair below (add your
eu-orasia-region prefix as needed). - Update the worker username to a wallet valid for the new coin’s format.
- Save — the ASIC reconnects within seconds.
- Verify on the dashboard that shares are arriving for the new coin.
| Coin | Host | Ports | Wallet format |
|---|---|---|---|
| BTC | btc.solofury.com | 6060 / 6061 / 6062 | bc1... or 1... |
| BCH | bch.solofury.com | 7070 / 7071 / 7072 | bitcoincash: or legacy 1... |
| BC2 | bc2.solofury.com | 8080 / 8081 / 8082 | bc1... or 1... |
| BCH2 | bch2.solofury.com | 8585 / 8586 / 8587 | bitcoincashii: prefix |
| XEC | xec.solofury.com | 9090 / 9091 / 9092 | ecash: prefix |
For full per-ASIC setup, see the Antminer S21+ Setup and Antminer S19 & Whatsminer Setup guides.
What matters beyond the math?
Pure expected-value math misses several real factors.
Liquidity. BTC is liquid everywhere, BCH on most exchanges, and BC2 / BCH2 / XEC on specific ones. If you want to convert a found block to fiat quickly, BTC and BCH are easiest.
Tax. In most jurisdictions, finding a block is a taxable event at fair market value on the day of receipt. Thinner markets can make that value harder to defend.
Wallets. BCH and BCH2 both use CashAddr but with different prefixes (bitcoincash: versus bitcoincashii:); BTC and BC2 share bc1.../1...; XEC has its own ecash: format. A multi-coin miner needs wallets for each format they touch.
Reorg exposure. Smaller-hashrate chains are more exposed to chain reorganizations, which can occasionally orphan a block you appeared to find. Only on-chain-confirmed blocks count, so treat any block as final only after it has confirmations — the Hall of Fame lists confirmed blocks.
Community size. BTC and BCH have large communities; BC2, BCH2, and XEC are smaller but active. Larger communities answer technical questions faster.
Quick reference
The shortcut version, ordered by hashrate:
| Your hashrate | Best coin | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Bitaxe (~1 TH/s) | BCH2 | Lowest difficulty, most realistic discovery |
| NerdQAxe (~4-5 TH/s) | BCH2 or XEC | Same logic, a little more headroom |
| 1× S19 (~100 TH/s) | BC2 or BCH2 | Mid-difficulty matches mid-hashrate |
| 1× S21+ (~235 TH/s) | BC2, XEC, or BCH2 | Strong across the mid-difficulty coins |
| 2-4× S21+ (500 TH/s - 1 PH/s) | BCH | Mature ecosystem at this scale |
| 5+× S21+ (1 PH/s+) | BCH primary, BTC moonshot | Both worth running at this scale |
| Rented burst (multi-PH/s) | BCH2 for odds, BTC for the moonshot | Match burst size to coin difficulty |
Next Steps
- Generate exact pool URLs for your chosen coin and region with the Solo Start configurator.
- Compare live difficulty and value across all five coins on the Network Radar.
- Estimate your odds at your exact hashrate with the Profitability Calculator.
- Optimize cost-per-PH/s/day after choosing a coin with the Owned vs Rental Cost Comparison.
- Configure your hardware with the Antminer S21+ Setup or Bitaxe Solo Mining guides.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which SoloFury coin is easiest to find a block on?
BCH2 — it has the lowest network difficulty of the five, so a given amount of hashrate finds blocks fastest there. It is the standard recommendation for Bitaxe-class and other small miners.
Can I realistically find a BTC block by solo mining?
For almost everyone, no. Even 1 PH/s averages roughly 15–20 years to a BTC block, and a single Bitaxe averages tens of thousands of years. People mine BTC solo for the lottery upside, not as an expectation.
Which coin should I mine with a Bitaxe?
BCH2 in most cases, with XEC and BC2 as alternatives for variety. Their low difficulty gives small hardware realistic odds, while BTC remains an effectively impossible lottery at that hashrate.
How do I switch my miner between coins?
Change the pool host and port to the target coin (each coin has its own port), update the wallet to that coin's address format, and save. The miner reconnects in seconds. The configurator at /start/ generates the exact string.
Why does BCH2 need a different address than BCH?
Both use the CashAddr format, but BCH2 requires the bitcoincashii: prefix while BCH uses bitcoincash: (or a legacy 1... address). Using the wrong prefix is a common, avoidable error.
Is it better to mine one coin or rotate between several?
Either works. Rotating to whatever coin currently has the lowest difficulty can improve your edge, but it needs active management. Many miners keep a steady "background" coin and burst onto a lower-difficulty one during favorable windows.
Do all five coins pay the same way?
The pool fee is a unified 1% on BTC, BCH, BC2, and BCH2. XEC is different: its protocol splits the block reward, so the solver receives roughly 58% (the rest goes to eCash's staking and minerfund), with no additional pool fee.
How much is each coin's block actually worth?
It changes with price, so check the live Profitability Calculator. BTC blocks are worth the most by far but are the hardest to find; BC2, BCH2, and XEC pay less per block but are far easier, which is the whole point for small miners.