Strategy & RentalIntermediate10 min read

Renting Hashrate for Solo Mining on mkpool (2026)

Published July 24, 2026

You do not need to own an ASIC to take a solo shot at a block. Hashrate marketplaces rent you SHA-256 power by the hour, and mkpool accepts it just like any other miner. This guide is the practical how-to: the exact pool settings, the one rule you must not get wrong, and how to size the odds honestly before you spend anything.

Before you rent, read owned vs rented hashrate for the economics. The short version is that renting to solo mine is a priced lottery ticket, not a way to turn a profit. With that understood, here is how to do it well.

The one rule: fixed difficulty

Rented hashrate must connect on a fixed high-difficulty port, never vardiff. A marketplace pushes a large, steady load and reports a constant advertised speed; variable difficulty would flood the pool with shares before it ramps, or under-report while it settles. mkpool marks which ports are for rented hashrate. 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

Pick a fixed port whose difficulty suits the speed you are renting; the reasoning is in choosing a difficulty tier. For another chain, use its host and fixed port from its connect page.

Setting it up in a marketplace

NiceHash, MiningRigRentals and Braiins all work the same way: you add mkpool as a custom pool, then place an order against it.

Add mkpool as a custom pool with these details:
- Host / URL: your chain's stratum host, e.g. btc.mkpool.com
- Port: a fixed high-difficulty port from the table
- Username / worker: your own wallet address, e.g. bc1qyouraddress.rented
- Password: x
Set the speed and duration. How much hashrate, and for how long, together these are your odds and your bill.
Start the order. The marketplace points its hashrate at mkpool under your address.

Because you mine to your own address on a non-custodial pool, any block the rented hashrate finds is paid straight to you in the coinbase; the rental service never touches the reward.

Sizing the odds honestly

Your chance of at least one block scales, roughly, with the hashrate you rent multiplied by the time, divided by the network's total work over that period. Two practical consequences:

On Bitcoin, a few hours of typical rented hashrate is a long shot against the whole network, a fun, defined-odds ticket.
On a low-difficulty SHA-256 chain, the same burst can have a genuinely reasonable chance, because you are a much larger share of a much smaller network.

Get the real number first

Do not rent on a hunch. Put the hashrate you intend to rent into the chance calculator, read the probability over your rental window, and compare it against the rental cost. If the expected value does not justify the price, that is the calculator doing its job, and it usually will not, which is the honest reality of renting to solo mine.

Verify it landed

Once the order starts, confirm the hashrate is actually reaching mkpool: find your address on the miners page and watch for accepted shares and a hashrate near what you rented. If nothing arrives, re-check the host, the fixed port, and that your address is in the worker field. What the numbers mean once they appear is covered in reading your worker stats, and mkpool's rent hashrate page has the current provider details.

Disclaimer

Marketplace interfaces, rental rates and difficulties change constantly; follow each provider's current documentation and use the calculator for live odds. Nothing here is financial advice. Renting hashrate to solo mine is probabilistic and, in expectation, typically costs more than it returns.

Frequently asked questions

How do I point rented hashrate at mkpool?

In the marketplace, add mkpool as a custom pool: the stratum host for your chain (for example btc.mkpool.com), a fixed high-difficulty port, your own wallet address as the username or worker, and x as the password. Because you mine to your own address on a non-custodial solo pool, any block the rented hashrate finds pays you directly.

Why do I have to use a fixed-difficulty port for rented hashrate?

A marketplace sends a large, constant amount of work and reports a fixed advertised speed. Variable difficulty would either flood the pool with shares before it ramps up, or under-report the rented speed while it settles. A fixed high-difficulty port matches the constant load, which is why mkpool marks specific fixed ports for rented hashrate.

What are my odds if I rent hashrate for a few hours?

Roughly, your chance of at least one block scales with the hashrate you rent multiplied by the time, divided by the network's total work over that period. On Bitcoin, a few hours of typical rented hashrate is a long shot; on a low-difficulty SHA-256 chain the same burst can have a genuinely reasonable chance. Use the chance calculator with your rented hashrate to get a real number before you pay.

Which marketplaces work with mkpool?

NiceHash, MiningRigRentals and Braiins are supported for SHA-256 rentals. In each, you add mkpool as a custom pool with a fixed-difficulty port and your address as the worker. The connection is otherwise the same as any other miner.

Is renting hashrate to solo mine profitable?

Generally not in expectation: marketplaces price hashrate at roughly what it can earn, so what you pay to rent usually exceeds the expected value of the block you might find. Treat it as a defined-odds lottery ticket, not a profit strategy, the economics are laid out in the owned versus rented guide.

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