How to mine XBT at home in 2026
You can mine XBT at home with a small BLAKE2b miner, a normal outlet and a pool. The catch in 2026 is the 180-day coinbase lock: whatever you mine today can't be sold until around May 2027. Here's what to buy, what it earns at today's numbers, how to set it up, and the parts people get wrong.
Numbers below use XBT at $366, network hash rate of 45.1 PH/s and power at $0.13/kWh (Nov 4, 2026). They change daily. Live numbers for every miner: miner profitability.
1. Pick a miner that fits your house
XBT uses the BLAKE2b algorithm, so Bitcoin (SHA-256) miners won't work. The ones people run at home:
| Miner | Hash rate | Power | Home fit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goldshell SC Box | 0.9 TH/s | 200 W | Quiet, desk-friendly. Small earnings. |
| Goldshell SC Lite | 4.4 TH/s | 950 W | Garage or spare room. Noticeable fan noise. |
| iBeLink BM-S3 | 19 TH/s | 3,100 W | Loud. Needs a dedicated 240 V circuit, a shed or a garage. |
| iBeLink BM-S3+ | 25 TH/s | 3,400 W | Same as the BM-S3, most efficient. |
Already own an old Goldshell KD Box? The experimental Paperclip Flasher can turn it into an XBT miner. Full list of what works and what doesn't: miner compatibility. Buying used? Read the used miner buyer's guide first.
2. What it earns today
Today one TH/s earns about $3.65 a day in XBT before pool fees. Subtract power:
| Miner | XBT earned per day | Power cost per day | Left over |
|---|---|---|---|
| SC Box | $3.28 | $0.62 | ~$2.66 |
| SC Lite | $16.06 | $2.96 | ~$13.09 |
| BM-S3 | $69.34 | $9.67 | ~$59.67 |
Those are paper numbers in today's dollars. Difficulty went up 16.9% at one adjustment in October, and the price moved more than 50% in a week. Run your own numbers in the profitability calculator or compare with renting hash: rent or buy.
3. The 180-day lock changes the math
Every reward mined from block 979,919 on is locked for about 180 days. If you solo mine, the coins you find in November can't move until around May 2027. If you mine with a pool, ask how it pays: some pay only after rewards unlock, some advance payouts from their own funds. Either way, plan on your power bill coming due months before your XBT can be sold. Lock tracker 路 Payout questions to ask your pool 路 The tax-date question
4. Set it up
- Power: plug small units into a normal outlet that isn't shared with a space heater. Big units need a 240 V circuit an electrician signs off on.
- Network: connect the miner by Ethernet, then find its IP address in your router and open its dashboard in a browser.
- Pool: pick one from the pool comparison. Paste its stratum address, your wallet address or username as the worker, and save. Spread the hash around: big pools already find most blocks.
- Wallet: get a receive address from an XBT wallet you control, like Shrike. Wallet guide.
- Optional but better: run your own Bitcoin Knots node with DATUM, so you build your own block templates instead of trusting the pool's. Knots 29.4.3 guide.
Mistakes to avoid
- Buying a SHA-256 or Kadena miner by mistake. Check BLAKE2b support first. The KD Box Pro, for example, doesn't mine XBT.
- Ignoring heat and noise. A 3,000 W miner is a space heater with jet-engine fans.
- Counting on fast cash. With the 180-day lock, mining is a long hold, not a paycheck.
- Running old node software. If you run a node, keep it on Knots 29.4.3 so it enforces the current lock.
Live miner profitabilityCompare pools
Hash rate and power figures from maker and vendor listings. Some miner links on xbt.live are referral links. Not financial advice: mining can lose money.
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