What is Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is a digital money network. It runs without a central company approving every payment. Instead, thousands of independent computers check transactions, follow the same rules and agree on one public record called the blockchain.
Every Bitcoin block is a new page in that public record. Bitcoin is mined when mining hardware performs SHA-256 calculations and a miner discovers a valid block. That process confirms transactions, helps secure the network and releases the block reward under Bitcoin's rules. If you are asking what is lottery mining, the linked guide explains how home miners take part in that block-discovery process.
What is crypto mining?
Crypto mining is the process of using computer hardware to perform repeated calculations for a blockchain network. In Bitcoin mining, those calculations are SHA-256 hash attempts.
If you searched how do I mine Bitcoin, mining crypto currency, or what is Bitcoin mining, the short version is this: your miner receives work, hashes that work many times per second, and submits results back to a pool or node.
For home miners, devices like Bitaxe and NerdQaxe make Bitcoin mining more accessible. A good first step is learning the hardware through the Bitaxe Gamma review, then following the Bitaxe and NerdAxe setup guide.
The flowchart below shows the pack-mining model used by Wolf Pack Miners. It is one way to organise mining, not the only option. Miners may instead choose a dedicated solo pool and work entirely alone.
Your miner performs SHA-256 hash attempts and sends submitted work to the pool.
The pool address tells the miner where to connect. The port tells it which pack route to use.
The worker name links submitted work to the pack and to the registered wallet identity.
Accepted shares prove your device is contributing work to the pool.
The pack wallet receives block rewards for verification and payout processing.
Pack membership and active mining status are checked before reward distribution.
In a dedicated solo pool, the device, stratum connection, worker identity and accepted-share path still apply, but one miner replaces the pack. Only your own hashrate is hunting under your worker. If that work finds a valid block, the reward is handled under the solo pool's terms instead of being distributed across eligible pack members. The lottery-mining guide explains the solo model in detail.
What is hashrate?
Hashrate is how many hash attempts your miner makes per second. A 1 TH/s miner is making about one trillion hash attempts every second. A 5 TH/s NerdQaxe is doing around five trillion attempts per second.
More hashrate means more attempts. It also usually means more heat and power use, which is why cooling matters. For tuning and cooling upgrades, read the Bitaxe overclocking guide.
What is a stratum pool address and port?
A stratum pool address is the server address your miner connects to. A stratum port is the numbered doorway on that server.
On Wolf Pack Miners, a pack card gives you the address and the correct port separately. Do not guess the port. Copy the one shown on the pack details card.
Port: 3336
Password: x
The port matters because different pack routes can use different difficulty settings or operating rules. If your miner is pointed at the wrong port, it may not show under the pack you expected.
What are accepted shares in solo mining?
An accepted share means your miner submitted work that the pool accepted as valid for the current difficulty target. Shares are not payout percentages. They are proof your miner is connected and contributing work.
Shares help the pool track live work, hashrate and miner status. In solo mining, the block reward depends on finding a valid Bitcoin block, not on a percentage display beside a miner name.
This is why the live dashboard shows hashrate, shares and best difficulty: those numbers help confirm the miner is doing real work.
Why your CYD miner shows hashrate but pool status looks resting
Small ESP32 or CYD-style miners can show hashrate locally while still taking a long time to submit an accepted share to the pool. That does not always mean the device is broken.
Very low-power miners do much less work than a Bitaxe, NerdQaxe or ASIC. For perspective, a Bitaxe Gamma running near 1.2 TH/s performs about 1.2 million times as much hashing work as a CYD-style ESP32 miner running near 1 MH/s. Depending on pool difficulty and network conditions, it may therefore take much longer before the pool receives accepted work from the CYD miner.
The server can also take a minute or two to register a new worker after the first accepted work arrives. If your device is hashing, give it time, then check the dashboard again.
How do I mine Bitcoin at home?
- Choose SHA-256 hardware such as a Bitaxe, NerdQaxe or ASIC.
- Connect the device to Wi-Fi and open AxeOS or NerdAxe OS.
- Choose a dedicated solo pool or join a mining pack, then copy the correct pool details.
- Enter the pool address, port, worker details and password into the miner dashboard.
- Save, restart and wait for accepted shares.
The easiest path is to follow the setup your miner guide. If you are still choosing hardware, compare starter and stronger devices with the Bitaxe review, NerdQaxe++ review and NerdQaxe Hydro review.
Dedicated solo mining or pack mining?
With a dedicated solo pool, your miner works independently and your hashrate is not combined with a pack. If your work finds a valid block, it is handled according to that solo pool's payout terms.
Pack mining lets multiple registered miners aggregate real hashrate under one pack structure. The pack dashboard makes the combined effort visible, but a verified block reward is distributed across the eligible active pack members rather than paid only to the device that submitted the winning work.
The pack wallet is used for the mining route. The registered user wallet remains the login and payout identity, while active membership and work status can be checked against the pack records before payout processing.
Start simple
Learn the basics first: what is hashrate, what is a stratum pool, what are accepted shares, and how your device appears on the dashboard. Once that makes sense, mining becomes much less mysterious.
Browse packs, read the setup guide, or compare chips in the BM1370 vs BM1373 guide.
