How Long Does It Take to Mine 1 Bitcoin in 2026? Time and Cost by Miner

One modern mining machine, Bitmain's Antminer S21 Pro at 234 TH/s, would take about 27.5 years on average to earn 1 BTC in a mining pool at the difficulty set on October 29, 2026.

Mining alone, the same machine would find a block about once every 86 years on average, which is why most small miners join pools.

The electricity to mine 1 BTC at that efficiency costs about $81,000 at the August 2026 U.S. average industrial power price, however many machines you run.

New to mining? Start with our Bitcoin mining guide for beginners.

Key Takeaways:

• At the October 29, 2026 difficulty, one 234 TH/s machine in a pool earns 1 BTC in about 27.5 years on average.
• Doubling your hashrate halves the time but does not lower the power cost of each coin.
• At 15 J/TH, the electricity to mine 1 BTC costs about $42,240 at 5¢ per kWh and $153,416 at 18.16¢ per kWh.
• Mining solo is a lottery: one such machine has about a 1.2% chance of finding a block in a year.
• The April 2024 halving cut the reward to 3.125 BTC, and the next one, around 2028, cuts it to 1.5625 BTC.

How Does Bitcoin Mining Pay Out?

Bitcoin mining pays a block reward of 3.125 BTC plus transaction fees to the miner that finds the next valid block, about once every 10 minutes.

Finding a block means making guesses, called hashes, until one meets the network's difficulty target.

The reward has been 3.125 BTC since the halving at block 840,000 on April 20, 2024.

In the 4,320 blocks up to November 10, 2026, total pay averaged about 3.143 BTC per block, and fees made up only about 0.57% of it.

That means the block reward still pays for almost all mining, which is why each halving matters so much to miners.

How Long Does It Take to Mine 1 Bitcoin? The Calculation

The time to mine 1 BTC comes down to one ratio: your machine's hashrate compared with the total work the network needs to find a block.

On October 29, 2026, at block 973,728, Bitcoin's difficulty adjusted to about 148.36 trillion, according to mempool.space block data.

At that difficulty, the network has to make about 1,062 EH/s, or 1,062 quintillion guesses per second, to keep blocks at 10 minutes.

Bitmain's specification lists the Antminer S21 Pro at 234 TH/s using 3,510 watts, or 15 joules per terahash.

One such machine therefore supplies about 0.000022% of the network's hashrate.

In a pool, that share earns about 0.0001 BTC a day, so 1 BTC takes about 10,000 days, or 27.5 years.

The network's difficulty adjustment runs every 2,016 blocks, so if more machines join, the same miner's time to 1 BTC gets longer.

Time and Cost to Mine 1 Bitcoin by Miner Size

The table shows the expected time to earn 1 BTC in a pool and the yearly power bill for four miner sizes, all at the October 29, 2026 difficulty and 15 J/TH.

The 9.64¢ and 18.16¢ rates are the U.S. average industrial and residential electricity prices for August 2026, according to the EIA, and 5¢ stands for a low-cost power contract.

Power cost per coin is the same at every size, because a bigger setup uses more power in proportion to the coins it earns.

That is the real limit on home mining: buying more machines makes it faster, not cheaper.

The figures leave out pool fees, hardware, cooling and repairs, and they assume difficulty stays flat, so real results will differ.

Solo Mining vs. Pool Mining: Which Is Faster?

Solo and pool mining earn the same amount on average, but a pool turns rare jackpots into small, steady payments.

A solo miner keeps the whole block reward, but only when it finds a block itself.

For one 234 TH/s machine, the expected wait for a block at the October 2026 difficulty is about 86 years, which works out to roughly a 1.2% chance in any given year.

A pool combines many miners' hashrate and splits each block's reward by the work each member contributed, minus a pool fee.

For small miners that makes income predictable, but it does not raise expected earnings.

What Else Changes the Time and Cost?

Hardware efficiency, halvings and the Bitcoin price all move the numbers in the table, each in a different way.

Hardware Efficiency

Efficiency, measured in joules per terahash, sets the power cost of each coin.

A machine that uses 30 J/TH needs twice the electricity per coin of the 15 J/TH machine in the table.

As newer ASIC machines get more efficient, older ones drop out once their power bill is larger than what they earn.

Halvings

Each halving cuts the block reward in half, which doubles the time to earn 1 BTC with the same machine.

The next halving, expected around 2028, cuts the reward to 1.5625 BTC.

When the last coins will be issued is covered in when the last bitcoin will be mined.

Bitcoin's Price

The price does not change how long it takes to mine 1 BTC, but it decides whether the power bill is worth paying.

A higher price makes more machines worth running, and as they join, difficulty rises at the next adjustment.

Whether the numbers work for you is covered in is Bitcoin mining profitable.

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FAQ

How long does it take to mine 1 bitcoin?

With one 234 TH/s machine in a pool, it takes about 27.5 years on average at the October 29, 2026 difficulty.

How long does it take to mine 1 bitcoin with one ASIC solo?

A single 234 TH/s machine would find a block about once every 86 years on average, and each block pays about 3.14 BTC.

How much does it cost to mine 1 bitcoin?

At 15 J/TH and the October 2026 difficulty, the electricity alone costs about $42,240 at 5¢ per kWh, $81,439 at 9.64¢ and $153,416 at 18.16¢.

How long does it take to mine 1 bitcoin at home?

A home setup of 100 to 200 TH/s would take about 32 to 64 years on average in a pool at the October 2026 difficulty.

Can you mine 1 bitcoin in a day?

Mining 1 BTC a day would take about 2.35 EH/s, roughly the output of 10,000 Antminer S21 Pro machines, at the October 2026 difficulty.

Is it faster to mine bitcoin in a pool?

A pool does not raise average earnings, but it pays small amounts regularly instead of a rare full block.

What does a Bitcoin mining calculator show?

A mining calculator applies the current difficulty and block reward to your hashrate, power use and electricity price to estimate what you would earn and spend each day.

Conclusion

Mining 1 BTC with one modern machine takes decades on average at the October 2026 difficulty, even in a pool.

More machines shorten the wait, but the power cost of each coin stays the same, so electricity price and hardware efficiency decide whether mining pays.

Each halving doubles the wait again, so check these numbers against the current difficulty before making any decision.

For Bitcoin basics, see our beginner's guide to Bitcoin.

Related Articles

• Is Bitcoin Mining Profitable? Equipment, Costs & Returns
• Can You Still Mine Bitcoin Profitably? What You Need to Know
• What is Bitcoin Mining? How to Mine Bitcoin for Beginners
• When Will the Last Bitcoin Be Mined? Halving Timeline to 2140
• When Is the Next Bitcoin Halving? Everything Explained

Trading crypto assets is high-risk; prices can be highly volatile and you may lose everything you put in. No security measure removes all risk, and MEXC does not promise principal protection or absolute security. This article is not investment advice.