The Open-Source Mining Authority

What is Open-Source Mining?

Open-source mining units (OSMU) are fully open-source Bitcoin ASIC miners. Every schematic, every PCB layout, every line of firmware is public. Anyone can audit it, build it, modify it, improve it. They take the same SHA-256 chips found inside industrial Antminers — the BM1366, BM1370, BM1397 — and put them on compact boards that anyone can run from home. No noise. No industrial power. No permission needed.

Two families dominate the ecosystem. Bitaxe (created by skot9000) delivers clean single-board designs running AxeOS firmware — from the single-chip Gamma to the 6-chip Hex. The NerdAxe family (created by BitMaker) focuses on multi-chip scaling and accessibility — from the tiny NerdMiner lottery miner to the 8-chip NerdOctaxe Gamma pushing 9.6+ TH/s. D-Central stocks every model from both families.

These miners run solo mining by default. You point your hash rate directly at the Bitcoin network, searching for a block on your own. When you find one, the entire block reward (currently 3.125 BTC) goes straight to your wallet. No middlemen. No pool fees. Just you, your miner, and the SHA-256 grind. This is what cypherpunks meant when they said “don’t trust, verify.”

Is it likely you will find a block? Statistically, the odds are long. But solo miners have found blocks with small devices — documented on-chain and celebrated by the community every time. Your miner never stops. It hashes 24/7, every second another chance, running on less power than a light bulb. That is sovereignty in silicon.

These miners connect to your WiFi and start hashing. No special wiring. No 240V. No noise complaints from the neighbours. Plug in and start running Bitcoin — from a 1-watt lottery miner to a 120-watt hashrate beast.

Tier 1: Learn and Explore

$30 – $80 | Under 10W

The NerdMiner ($29.99) is a lottery miner — negligible hashrate but it teaches you Bitcoin mining fundamentals and looks great on a desk. The NerdNOS ($69.99) is your first real ASIC chip (BM1397), hashing at 80-130 GH/s from USB-C power. The NerdAxe ($79.99) pushes ~500 GH/s on just 5W. Perfect entry points before committing to serious hardware.

Tier 2: Your First Solo Miner

$180 – $250 | 12-15W

The Bitaxe Gamma ($199.99) is the flagship — a single BM1370 chip pushing ~1.2 TH/s. This is where most solo miners start. The Modern Minibit ($239.99) packs the same chip into a fully enclosed case with premium cooling included — plug and play. The NerdQAxe ($179.99) offers quad-chip ~1.6 TH/s at this price point.

D-Central: From Day One

D-Central did not jump on the open-source mining bandwagon. We helped build it. We have been providing solutions to pleb miners since 2016 — long before OSMU existed as a category. When the first Bitaxe prototypes were circulating, we were already there — testing, building, and playing a direct role in the initial marketing of the Bitaxe project and OSMU as a whole.

We were the first to release the Bitaxe Gamma to the public and made thermal improvements on it. We created the original Bitaxe Mesh Stand — the first purpose-built accessory for the Bitaxe. Then we engineered custom heatsinks for every variant — from single-chip Premium and Modern heatsinks to the dedicated Hex Heatsink for the 6-chip board. When NerdAxe and NerdQAxe arrived, we built adjustable stands and socket extensions for those too. We delivered dozens of 3D model files for free — with commercial use allowed — giving even our competitors the tools to serve the community. That is how you build an ecosystem.

We were the first to sell a DIY Bitaxe kit and remain one of the few companies offering them. We hosted the first-ever Bitcoin mining workshop using the Bitaxe at the Canadian Bitcoin Conference, putting open-source mining hardware directly in people’s hands. We are the only OSMU manufacturer in Canada. We are not resellers. We are makers.

Today we stock the complete OSMU ecosystem: every Bitaxe variant, every NerdAxe model, 25+ purpose-built accessories, replacement parts, and power solutions. This is what happens when a company full of Bitcoin Mining Hackers decides to support the open-source movement from day one.

Step 1: Power Up

Connect your miner to the correct power source. USB-C models (NerdMiner, NerdNOS, NerdAxe): any USB-C adapter. 5V barrel jack (Bitaxe Gamma, Supra, Ultra, Minibit): 5V 2.1mm barrel adapter with at least 6A — NOT USB-C. 12V barrel jack (NerdQAxe, NerdQAxe+, Hex): 12V DC adapter. XT30 (GT, NerdQAxe++): 12V via XT30 or adapter cable. XT60 (NerdOctaxe): 12V via XT60. Check the comparison table above if unsure.

Step 2: Connect to WiFi

On first boot, your miner creates its own WiFi hotspot. Connect to it from your phone or laptop, and the configuration page opens automatically. Enter your home WiFi credentials and save. Your miner joins your network and gets its own IP address. This works the same way across Bitaxe (AxeOS) and NerdAxe family firmware.

Step 3: Configure Your Pool

Navigate to your miner’s IP address in a browser. In the dashboard, enter your solo mining pool (public-pool.io or solo.ckpool.org are the most popular) and your Bitcoin wallet address. Solo mining means if you find a block, the entire 3.125 BTC reward goes to your wallet. No pool fees. Hit save.

Solo Mining Explained

In pool mining, thousands of miners combine their hash rate and split the rewards proportionally. You get small, regular payouts — but you are always sharing. Solo mining is the opposite. Your miner works alone. If your device finds the valid hash for the next Bitcoin block, you get the entire block reward: 3.125 BTC plus all transaction fees.

The math is simple but humbling. The Bitcoin network produces roughly 750+ exahashes per second. A Bitaxe Gamma does about 1.2 TH/s. That means your odds per second are astronomically small. But unlike a scratch ticket, your miner plays every single second of every single day. It never stops. It never sleeps.

Solo miners have found blocks with small devices. It has happened. It is documented on-chain and celebrated by the community every time. The expected time to find a block varies by device — a Bitaxe Gamma might expect centuries, a NerdOctaxe Gamma reduces that to roughly a decade. Stack multiple miners and the odds compound.

Solo mining is sovereignty, not speculation. Your electricity cost ranges from a few cents to a dollar per day depending on your miner. Your potential upside is 3.125 BTC. And you are participating in something meaningful — directly securing the Bitcoin network and contributing to its decentralization. Every hash counts.

The real question is not “will I find a block?” but “can I afford NOT to be in the game?” A few dollars a month in electricity for an asymmetric bet on the hardest money ever created. That is the OSMU proposition.

Bitaxe Setup Guides

• ★ Bitaxe Setup Guide: Complete Guide for Every Model — from unboxing to hashing, all models covered
• Bitaxe Supra Setup Guide — BM1366 solo miner configuration
• Bitaxe Ultra Setup Guide — BM1366 solo miner configuration
• Bitaxe Gamma Setup Guide — BM1370 solo miner configuration
• Bitaxe Hex Setup Guide — 6-chip BM1366 configuration
• Bitaxe GT Setup Guide — Dual BM1370 configuration
• Bitaxe Firmware Update Guide — OTA, Web Flasher, CLI & source builds

Advanced Guides

• The Definitive Bitaxe Overclocking Manual — every model, every setting, maximum hashrate
• The Complete Bitaxe Accessories Guide — power, cooling, cases, stands & more
• Bitaxe Buying Guide — which model is right for you
• ASIC Miner Comparison Tool — compare every major ASIC miner side by side

Troubleshooting

• Bitaxe Troubleshooting Guide — every common issue and how to fix it

Comparisons

• Bitaxe vs NerdAxe — complete open-source solo miner comparison
• Bitaxe Gamma vs Hex — choosing your ideal Bitcoin miner
• Bitaxe Buying Guide — which model is right for you
• ASIC Miner Comparison Tool — compare every major ASIC miner side by side

Bitaxe History

• First Bitaxe Block Win — the historic pleb block mined by a Bitaxe
• Bitaxe Series Detailed — the open-source revolution in Bitcoin mining