Know-how for Bitaxe, Nerdaxe and solo mining
Bitaxe guides: setup, reviews and tools for Bitaxe, Nerdaxe and solo mining
Every guide, how-to and comparison in one place: from the first setup through pool and firmware to cooling, running costs and the question of which miner fits your setup.
This hub gathers every guide, review and tool for Bitaxe, Nerdaxe, NerdQaxe, solo mining and running your own Bitcoin infrastructure. If you want to buy a miner, set up a device or understand open-source mining better, start here.
Home mining comes down to three decisions: which device fits your space and power budget, how you set it up, and how you keep it healthy in daily operation. This hub is sorted exactly that way. Everything here comes from working with the devices we sell and support ourselves.
If you are just starting out
- What is a Bitaxe?: what a Bitaxe is, what it does and who it is for.
- Open-source Bitcoin mining: why open hardware and firmware make the difference in mining, with licences and every open board.
- Understanding solo mining: how solo mining works, what chance each device has and which blocks home miners have already found.
Finding the right miner
- Buy a Bitaxe: every Bitaxe model with hashrate, power draw, running costs and board numbers.
- Buy a Bitcoin miner: every home miner from Bitaxe to NerdOctaxe side by side.
- Miner comparison: the full table by hashrate, watts and price.
- Bitaxe or Nerdaxe?: the two families compared directly.
- NerdQaxe++ review: four BM1370 and around 4.8 TH/s; who should upgrade from a Bitaxe, and when Hydro, Copper Pro or NerdOctaxe fit better.
- Nerdaxe Gaia explained: a BM1373 at around 11 to 12.5 J/TH and 12 volts, compared with the Nerdaxe Gamma, Bitaxe GT and NerdQaxe++.
Setting up step by step
Each guide runs from unboxing to the first accepted share.
- Set up a Bitaxe: Wi-Fi, pool, wallet and the first readings to check in AxeOS.
- The Bitaxe Gamma 601 in detail: the extended version with check values and troubleshooting for the Gamma.
- Set up a Nerdaxe Gamma: the setup in NerdOS, including the display.
- Set up a NerdQaxe: Wi-Fi, pool and the first readings in NerdOS.
Firmware, AxeOS and tools
Our web flasher installs firmware straight from the browser, for Bitaxe, the Nerd devices and the Nerdaxe Gaia. OSM-OS, our optimised builds and our recommendation, is preselected; you can pick the unmodified originals (AxeOS or NerdOS) at any time. With the “Keep configuration” box ticked, Wi-Fi, pool and Bitcoin address survive the update. No Python, no command line.
- Bitaxe Flasher: install firmware in the browser, for every miner we sell.
- Pool configurator: the pool values ready to copy, including Stratum V2.
- Troubleshooter: from fault to cause in a few clicks.
- Mining calculator and network dashboard: power cost, block chance and difficulty, live.
- AxeOS firmware update: when an update is worth it and how to do it safely.
- AxeOS explained: every dashboard reading and what it tells you.
- Overclocking: more hashrate without losing sight of the temperature.
In operation: pool, cooling, electricity
- The Bitaxe Pool: our solo pool in Frankfurt with a 0 % fee, SOLO groups, Stratum V2 and the three-step setup.
- Setting up Stratum V2 on a Bitaxe: the fields in AxeOS, V1 fallback, verifying the connection and the failure patterns when the pool stays red.
- Choosing a pool: solo pools, fees and settings compared.
- Making it quieter: fan curve, heatsinks and what actually helps.
- The right power supply: when the included one is enough and when it is not.
- Calculating electricity: what continuous operation really costs per month.
When something goes wrong
- Troubleshooter: to the cause in a few clicks, with hand-over to support.
- Connected but not mining: checking router, pool and network in order.
- Understanding the hashrate error: what the AxeOS value means and when it matters.
- Support page: the common cases plus a direct line to us.
Solo mining and your own infrastructure
- How likely is a block?: the honest maths for every model, with every documented block find.
- Running your own Bitcoin node: why it is worth it and what it takes.
- Point your miner at your own node: Public Pool on Umbrel, step by step.
Products that fit
If you want to build a setup after reading, these are the usual starting points:
- Bitaxe Gamma 601: the compact entry into open-source mining.
- Bitaxe Copperzilla: the same board with solid copper cooling.
- NerdQaxe++: four ASICs, noticeably more hashrate.
- NerdQaxe++ Hydro: water cooling for quiet continuous operation.
- LiquidBox V5: a Bitcoin full node for sovereign infrastructure.
About us
- Paying with Bitcoin: how payment works through our own BTCPay Server, with 5 % off the goods value.
- Bitaxe Rewards: redeem the points your miner collects on the Bitaxe Pool as a discount in the shop.
- Affiliate programme: 5 % commission on every referral, with your own link and discount code.
- Who owns the Bitaxe?: our statement on trademark rights around open hardware.
Frequently asked questions
What is a Bitaxe, exactly?
A Bitaxe is a small Bitcoin miner with open hardware and open firmware (AxeOS), built for a desk, a shelf or a homelab rather than a mining farm. A single ASIC does the hashing, an ESP32 controller runs the browser interface. You enter pool and Bitcoin address yourself; no provider settles anything on your behalf. Details in the Bitaxe miner guide.
Does home mining pay off financially?
Not as a predictable investment. A Bitaxe Gamma earns around 51 satoshis a day on average, just under 4 cents, while using a good 12 cents of electricity. What you get is a ticket in every draw: if your device finds a block, the full reward goes to your address. Run your own numbers in the mining calculator.
How much electricity do these miners use?
It depends heavily on the model: a Bitaxe Gamma draws around 17 W (about €3.70 a month at €0.30 per kWh), a NerdQaxe++ around 76 W, a NerdOctaxe 160 to 200 W. Practically all of that leaves the device as heat. Concrete costs are in calculating electricity.
Do I need technical knowledge?
No. Setup runs through a web interface in the browser: enter your Wi-Fi, add pool and Bitcoin address, done. It takes a few minutes and needs no PC skills and no command line. The setup guide shows every step, and you can adjust frequency, voltage and fan later.
Solo mining or a pool: which makes more sense?
A pool pays small shares regularly, though with a home device those shares are tiny. Solo mining pays nothing almost all of the time and the entire block reward in the rare event of a hit. For most home miners solo is the more honest option, because it treats the thing as what it is: a lottery with very good side effects. The solo mining guide puts both in context.
How loud is a miner in a living space?
The small single-chip models are audible in a quiet room but unobtrusive. From the 4.8 TH/s class upwards a device is clearly present and does not belong in a bedroom. Target temperature and minimum fan speed in AxeOS lower the level at the cost of temperature headroom. What actually helps is in making a Bitaxe quieter.
What do I need besides the miner itself?
A socket, a 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi network and your own Bitcoin address. The power supply is included with our devices, and no extra PC or Raspberry Pi is needed, because the firmware runs on the miner itself. Hardware only comes into play once you want to mine against your own node; the node guide covers that.
Which firmware is current?
For Bitaxe devices AxeOS 2.15.3 from 20 September 2026, for Nerdaxe, NerdQaxe, NerdQX and NerdOctaxe NerdOS 1.1.0.1 from 24 September 2026. In the web flasher our OSM-OS builds are preselected: v2.15.1-osm for Bitaxe, v1.1.0-osm for the Nerd devices and gaia-v1.1.1-osm for the Nerdaxe Gaia.
How do I keep the firmware up to date?
Easiest through our web flasher: pick the device, plug in the cable, install; with “Keep configuration” ticked, Wi-Fi, pool and address stay intact. Without a cable, since 2.15 you upload only
esp-miner.bin on the Update page in AxeOS, and under “Installed Firmware” the “Activate” button takes you back to the previous version. On the Nerd devices use “Release & Update” in the settings; details in the update guide. Which pool should I use for a Bitaxe?
For solo mining we recommend our pool: host stratum.bitaxe.de, port 3333, your Bitcoin address as the user, 0 % fee, servers in Frankfurt. Encrypted mining works via Stratum V2 on port 3336. Which alternatives exist and how they differ is shown in Choosing a Bitaxe mining pool.