Buy a Bitcoin miner: Bitaxe, Nerdaxe & open-source mining hardware

Mining hardware for the home is rarely returned because of hash rate – it is returned because of noise, heat or electricity cost. So it is worth answering one question before buying: what should the device do for you?

• Understand how mining works: a single Bitaxe Gamma is entirely enough. Technically it does the same as an industrial machine – just quietly and for about €3 of electricity a month.
• Help secure the network and play solo: every device can solo mine. What matters is not size but that you mine yourself – more on that in the solo mining guide.
• As much hash rate per watt as possible: the Nerdaxe Gaia with the BM1373 sits at around 10 J/TH, clearly ahead of every other model.
• A visible setup for a shelf or office: the Nerdaxe models with a large display, complemented by cooling and a mount.
• Serious compute in the homelab: NerdQaxe++ (4.8 TH/s), NerdQaxe++ Hydro with water cooling (6 TH/s) or NerdOctaxe (12 TH/s).
• Node and miner in one: the Sovereign Stack V1 – your own Bitcoin node plus a miner, so full sovereignty without third-party block templates.

From 1.3 to 14 TH/s, sorted by compute. Power draw and efficiency are our catalogue values; the price column is pulled live from the shop.

The six devices most people choose – from the entry point to a homelab setup. Price, rating and availability are on each card.

The purchase price is one half of the sum, electricity the other. Basis: continuous operation, 730 hours a month, €0.28/kWh.

The heat does not disappear – it goes into the room. 200 watts of continuous load is a small fan heater on its lowest setting. For your own tariff, use the mining calculator.

Solo mining means your device searches on its own account. If it finds a block, the entire reward of currently 3.125 BTC plus fees is yours – that lottery character is why many people run a small miner. The chance is small and depends only on luck, not on how long the device has been running: a Gamma has about 1 in 14,600 per year, a NerdQaxe++ 1 in 4,000, a NerdOctaxe 1 in 1,600 – your model in the mining calculator.

Pool mining means your device works together with thousands of others and you receive your share of every find the pool makes. Regular tiny amounts instead of a tiny chance at a lot. Both run on the same hardware; switching takes less than a minute in the firmware.

We do not sell cloud mining or mining contracts. With both you pay in advance for computing power that somebody else owns, operates and can switch off at any time – the most common shape of fraud in this field. Here you get a device in your hand whose firmware is open and which still belongs to you even if this shop disappeared.

We also do not sell promises of returns. What a device earns depends on network difficulty, pool, electricity price, exchange rate and luck – nobody can predict that seriously.

• A power supply in the right class: 5 V / 6 A for the small models, 12 V / 5 A for the Bitaxe GT, 12 V / 10 A for the Bitaxe 702 and the NerdQaxe models, 12 V / 20 A for the NerdQX and NerdOctaxe. Supplies that are too weak cause restarts under load.
• Cooling: a bigger heatsink or a better fan lowers temperature and noise – the most common sensible addition.
• Upgrades: displays, mounts and cases for a clean setup that keeps running.
• Bitcoin node: for solo mining with your own block templates. Without a node, solo works through our pool pool.opensourceminers.de (port 3333, 0 %) – values in the pool configurator.
• Bundles: miner plus matching cooling as a set, if you would rather not assemble it yourself.

• Set up a Bitaxe – step by step from the first Wi-Fi connection to the first share.
• Set up the Nerdaxe Gamma – including display settings.
• Set up a NerdQaxe – for the models with four ASICs.
• Open-source mining guide – background on AxeOS, pools and firmware.
• Support – if something goes wrong, the people who answer run this hardware themselves.

These five points cost money or nerves later – and all of them are avoidable:

• Looking only at hash rate. A device with twice the hash rate usually draws twice the power. What matters is efficiency in J/TH – and across the current BM1370 models that figure is similar throughout the range.
• Underestimating the power supply. Not every device runs on 5 V: the Bitaxe GT, Bitaxe 702, every NerdQaxe, the NerdQX and the NerdOctaxe need 12 V – the NerdQX and NerdOctaxe even 20 A. A supply that is too weak does not show up at power-on but as restarts under load. Details in the power supply guide.
• Thinking about the location only after buying. From the 4.8 TH/s class upwards a miner is clearly audible in the room and releases its entire power draw as heat. That rules out living rooms and bedrooms in practice – a study, a shelf or a utility room works.
• Expecting a return. Home mining is a ticket in every draw, not an investment. Treat the electricity as the stake and you will not be disappointed; expect amortisation and you will be. Run the numbers in the mining calculator.
• Forgetting the accessories. A quiet fan, a matching heatsink or a stand cost little and often decide whether the device is allowed to stay in a living space.

For getting started a single compact device is enough: quiet, frugal and technically complete. If you want more, the route goes through the Bitaxe GT and the Bitaxe 702 up to the NerdQaxe and NerdOctaxe models – and then space, cooling and electricity cost should be part of the plan. Only comparing the Bitaxe range? That is on buy a Bitaxe.