Setup & First ShareBeginner11 min read

Bitaxe Solo Mining Setup on mkpool (2026)

Published July 24, 2026

The Bitaxe is the friendliest way into solo mining: a small, open-source, single-board miner you set up in a browser in a few minutes, quiet enough to sit on a desk. It will not out- hash an industrial ASIC, but it is a real, self-contained lottery ticket against the Bitcoin network, and on mkpool it mines straight to your own wallet. This guide takes one from the box to its first accepted share.

Everything rests on one idea: mkpool is non-custodial. The address you put in the Bitaxe is your identity and your payout destination, so any block it finds is paid to you directly by the network.

mkpool relays work and templates; the block reward is paid on-chain straight to the address you mine with.

The current Bitaxe models

"Bitaxe" is an open-source design, so several boards exist. Published figures for the common ones, exact numbers vary by revision, firmware and tuning:

Model	Chips	Hashrate	Efficiency
Bitaxe Gamma (601)	1 × BM1370	~1.2 TH/s	~15 J/TH
Bitaxe GT	2 × BM1370	~2.4 TH/s	~15 J/TH
Bitaxe Supra Hex	6 × BM1368	~4.2 TH/s	~17 J/TH

The single-chip Gamma is the classic starting point: about 1.2 TH/s on roughly 18 watts, near-silent, with AxeOS and a small OLED display. Whichever board you have, the setup below is identical.

Step 1: First boot and Wi-Fi

Power the Bitaxe with a USB-C supply rated for its draw. On first boot it has no network yet, so it broadcasts its own Wi-Fi access point, usually named something like Bitaxe_XXXX:

Join that access point from a phone or laptop.
A setup page should open automatically; if not, browse to the address in the docs (commonly 192.168.4.1).
Select your home Wi-Fi network and enter its password.

If your first boot is unstable, the usual culprit is an underpowered supply, the Bitaxe power supply guide covers sizing.

Step 2: Point it at mkpool

Still in AxeOS, fill in the stratum settings for solo mining Bitcoin:

Stratum URL: btc.mkpool.com
Stratum port: 3333 (vardiff)
Stratum user: your Bitcoin address, optionally with a worker name, e.g. bc1qyouraddress.bitaxe
Stratum password: x

The vardiff port is ideal for a Bitaxe, it starts low so shares arrive within seconds, then settles to the board's rate. For reference, here are the live Bitcoin ports from the pool config:

Host: btc.mkpool.com

Port	Difficulty	Encryption	Rented hashrate
3333	vardiff [1024 to 1M]	Plain	Owned miners
3334	vardiff [1024 to 1M] · TLS	TLS	Owned miners
3335	fixed 1,000,000 · TLS	TLS	Owned miners
3336	fixed 10,000,000 · TLS	TLS	Owned miners
3342	fixed 50,000,000 · TLS	TLS	Owned miners
3337	fixed 1,000,000	Plain	NiceHash · Braiins
3338	fixed 10,000,000	Plain	NiceHash · Braiins
3339	fixed 50,000,000	Plain	NiceHash · Braiins
3340	vardiff [1024 to 1M]	Stratum V2	Owned miners · Braiins
3380	fixed 1,000,000	Stratum V2	Owned miners · Braiins
3381	fixed 10,000,000	Stratum V2	Owned miners · Braiins
3382	fixed 50,000,000	Stratum V2	Owned miners · Braiins

Set a backup pool

AxeOS supports a fallback pool. Point it at a second mkpool endpoint, a different port, or another SHA-256 chain, with the same address, so a brief outage never leaves the Bitaxe idle.

Step 3: Confirm it is mining

Open the AxeOS dashboard at the Bitaxe's new address on your network:

A healthy Bitaxe shows

Hashrate near the model's rating (about 1-1.2 TH/s for a Gamma).
Accepted shares ticking upward.
Temperature in a healthy range, if it climbs, see the cooling guide.
Power draw close to expected.

Then cross-check on mkpool: find your address on the miners page. What every figure means is in reading your worker stats.

What are the odds, really?

Be clear-eyed: a single ~1 TH/s Bitaxe against Bitcoin is a very long shot, a lottery ticket, not an income. That is the honest framing, and it is also the appeal. If you want a result more often, point it at a lower- difficulty SHA-256 chain (see which coin to solo mine), and put real numbers on any choice with the chance calculator.

Where to go next

Once you have a stable baseline, you can push for more hashrate or better efficiency with Bitaxe overclocking, encrypt the connection following encrypted solo mining, or add more boards, the fleet mining guide covers running several. Stepping up in size, the NerdQAxe is the natural next board.

Disclaimer

AxeOS screens, default access-point names and addresses vary by board and firmware version and are current as of July 2026; follow your Bitaxe maker's documentation for your exact unit. Hardware figures are community-published nominal specs and vary by build. Nothing here is financial advice. Solo mining is probabilistic and can lose money depending on electricity cost and network conditions.

Frequently asked questions

How do I set up a Bitaxe on mkpool?

Power the Bitaxe, join the Wi-Fi access point it creates on first boot, and open the AxeOS setup page. Enter your home Wi-Fi, then set the stratum URL to btc.mkpool.com on port 3333, your own Bitcoin address as the stratum user, and x as the password. Save, and the Bitaxe reboots onto your network and starts mining to your address.

What hashrate does a Bitaxe do?

The current single-chip Bitaxe Gamma does about 1.2 TH/s on one BM1370 chip at roughly 15 J/TH, drawing on the order of 18 watts. Multi-chip boards go higher: the dual-chip GT reaches about 2.4 TH/s, and six-chip boards more, at the cost of more power and heat. Exact figures vary by model and tuning.

Can a Bitaxe actually find a Bitcoin block?

Yes, in the same sense a lottery ticket can win: it is possible, and it has happened, but the odds for roughly 1 TH/s against the Bitcoin network are very long. Because mkpool is non-custodial, if it ever does find a block the full reward is paid straight to your address. Pointing it at a lower-difficulty SHA-256 chain makes a result far more frequent, though still on solo variance.

Do I need to change any settings to start mining?

No. A Bitaxe mines safely on its stock frequency and voltage; you only need the Wi-Fi and pool details. Tuning frequency and voltage for more hashrate or better efficiency is optional and best done later, once you have a stable baseline.

Which difficulty port should a Bitaxe use?

The vardiff port, 3333 on Bitcoin. Variable difficulty starts low so the first shares arrive within seconds (handy confirmation the board is working), then settles to the Bitaxe's roughly one-terahash rate. There is nothing to configure.

Can I set a backup pool on a Bitaxe?

Yes. AxeOS supports a fallback pool it switches to if the primary is unreachable. Set it to a second mkpool endpoint, ideally a different port or chain, with the same address, so a brief outage never leaves the Bitaxe idle.

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