Curious about Bitcoin mining? The NerdMiner v2 offers a compact, low-power, and highly educational entry into the world of Bitcoin—perfect for hobbyists, educators, or anyone keen to learn how mining works.
What Is the NerdMiner v2?
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Hash Rate: Around 78 kilo‑hashes per second, delivering a miniaturized mining experience
- Power Usage: Ultra-low consumption of approximately 1 W (5 V @ 0.14 A)—about the power draw of an LED lamp
- Hardware Specs: Built on a compact LILYGO T‑Display‑S3 board (ESP32-S3, ~16 MB flash + 8 MB PSRAM), featuring Wi‑Fi and an LCD screen
- Design: Sleek, plug-and-play form factor—no complicated rigs required.
Why It’s Educational – and Fun
DIY Open-Source Platform
Use the official firmware from GitHub and flash it yourself to learn the entire firmware-to-hardware flow
Lottery-Style Solo Mining
It’s called “lottery mining”—you’re mining solo with a non-zero, though extremely low, chance of finding a block
Track Mining Metrics Real-Time
The built-in full-screen LCD shows live stats like hash rate, temperature, and uptime—awesome for watching it work
Minimal Footprint & Cost
For just tens of dollars, you get a desktop-friendly miner consuming negligible electricity—an easy, low-cost experiment
Limitations & Reality Check
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Extremely Low Odds
The Bitcoin network’s hash rate is around 300 EH/s (300 million TH/s). That means your 78 kH/s rig is billions of times slower . Solo blocks with this device have odds in the order of 10⁻⁹ per year—more like a fun lottery than a realistic income generator. -
Not for Profit
Reddit users correctly point out: “It’s a literal toy… this thing can’t mine anything” . It won’t earn meaningful returns—but it will teach you how mining works from inside out. -
Step-by-Step Setup Overview
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Flash Firmware
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DIY: download the .bin files and flash via esptool.js.
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Easy: use the DIY flasher tool for one-click firmware install
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Configure Wi-Fi & Wallet
Connect to its Wi-Fi hotspot, browse to 192.168.4.1, set your own BTC address and pool settings - Start Mining & Monitor
The LCD displays your hash rate (~55–78 kH/s depending on firmware/tuning) and system health -
Final Verdict: A Learning Platform, Not a Profit Machine
If you're after financial returns, this isn't it. But as a hands-on educational tool, it’s excellent:
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Shows how ASICs and SHA‑256 mining work
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Teaches firmware flashing, embedded Wi‑Fi, and pool setup
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Looks great on a desk and starts conversations
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Sparks curiosity—even a Redditor said: “A solo miner mines a block more than I thought… consider it like playing the lotto… fun toy”
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