A NerdMiner is an open-source Bitcoin miner that runs on an ESP32 — the same cheap Wi-Fi microcontroller you'd find in a smart plug or a hobby robot. It costs a few dollars, fits in your palm, and shows a tiny dashboard on a built-in screen. The popular build is the NerdMiner_v2.
It is not a serious mining device and it was never meant to be. A NerdMiner hashes at only tens of kilohashes per second — a Bitaxe outruns it by an enormous margin, and a single S19 isn't even in the same universe. The NerdMiner exists as a learning toy and a lottery ticket: it real-mines the real Bitcoin network, it just does so at a comically small rate.
That is exactly why people love them, and exactly why most pools quietly don't want them.
Pools set a minimum difficulty: the lowest-value share they'll bother accepting from a worker. A NerdMiner is so slow it can only ever produce extremely low-difficulty shares, so a high floor means its work gets thrown on the ground — or the device is disconnected outright.
| Pool type | How it treats a NerdMiner |
|---|---|
| Big high-hashrate pools | Minimum share difficulty is set well above what an ESP32 can hit, so its shares are mostly rejected or it's disconnected. |
| ckpool (vardiff) | Variable difficulty can drop low enough that tiny devices are accepted. |
| SoloLuck Nano (:3335) | A dedicated difficulty-1 tier built for exactly this. Welcomed on purpose. |
SoloLuck runs five tiers on one host so each class of device lands on a port tuned for it. The :3335 Nano tier is fixed at difficulty 1 — the lowest meaningful share difficulty there is — so a NerdMiner, an ESP32 hobby build, or any sub-100 GH/s device can submit shares that actually count instead of being filtered out. We don't pretend this device is going to find a block. We just don't see a reason to lock the door on it.
This is a solo pool and the brand rule here is no hype, so plainly: a NerdMiner finding a Bitcoin block is so improbable the statistical wait runs far beyond the age of the universe. The network is hundreds of exahashes per second; you are bringing tens of kilohashes. Treat it as a curiosity, never a plan.
A few things that are not in dispute, so nobody can sell you a fantasy:
Want the real numbers for your exact hashrate? Put them into the solo mining odds calculator. And for why anyone runs a lottery toy at all, the solo vs pooled mining guide lays out the trade honestly.
SoloLuck is non-custodial: your Bitcoin address is your username. There is no signup, no account, no balance held for you. If a block is ever solved, it pays on-chain straight to the bc1... address you enter here. Use an address whose keys you control (a hardware wallet is ideal).
On a NerdMiner_v2, open its Wi-Fi config portal (it serves a setup page on first boot or via its menu) and set these fields:
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Pool address / host | stratum.sololuck.io (IP 148.230.98.87) |
| Pool port | 3335 — the Nano / difficulty-1 tier |
| BTC address / wallet | Your own bc1... address (this is your username) |
| Password | Anything at all — x is fine; it is ignored |
Save, let it reboot, and the device should show shares ticking up. Those are accepted lottery tickets — proof it's connected and doing real work, not a sign you're close to anything. The full picture and screenshots live on the setup page.
A pool can't improve your odds, but it can stop you wasting work. SoloLuck's stratum node is in Jakarta, roughly 6 ms from much of Indonesia and SEA, versus ~250 ms to a typical US pool. Closer means fewer stale shares — work you submitted that arrived after the network already moved on.
On a NerdMiner the absolute number of shares is tiny, so this is a small effect in raw terms — but it's the only lever a pool actually controls, and for a SEA miner it points the right way. AtlasPool's Hong Kong anycast is further from an Indonesian miner; ckpool and public-pool sit in the US/AU. The compare page shows the measured numbers side by side.
If you want to get rich: no, and nobody honest will tell you otherwise. If you want a real, on-chain Bitcoin lottery ticket that teaches you how mining works, looks great on a shelf, sips a couple of watts, and connects to a pool that won't reject it — then yes, a NerdMiner on the Nano tier is a genuinely fun way in.
Set it, point it at stratum.sololuck.io:3335 with your own address, and forget about it. If you later catch the bug, a Bitaxe-class device on the Lite tier (:3333) is the usual next step — still a lottery, just a bigger pile of tickets. Questions, or want to compare notes with other tiny-rig owners? The community is on Telegram at @SoloLuckPool, and the whole site is available in 10 languages.
Paste your address and copy the config from /setup, watch the pool on /status, and check every claim on /verify. Mine to your own address — that is what makes it truly solo.
Not ready to point a miner yet? Run your gear through the odds calculator, or join Telegram for block & record alerts — no rig required.
Join the SoloLuck community
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