The Piaxe: One ASIC, One Vote

The PiAxe is an open-source ASIC Bitcoin miner built as a Raspberry Pi Hat. It runs a BM1366 chip — the same silicon found in the Antminer S19 XP and the Bitaxe Ultra — and delivers approximately 500 GH/s of SHA-256 hashing power from a form factor that sits directly on top of your Raspberry Pi 4 (or newer). Designed by shufps and released under the GPL-3.0 license, the PiAxe is a statement: Bitcoin mining belongs to individuals, not corporations.

This is not a plug-and-play consumer appliance. The PiAxe is a development-stage device built for tinkerers, builders, and cypherpunks who want to run their own mining hardware connected to their own node. If you believe that the future of Bitcoin depends on decentralized hashrate, the PiAxe is one of the most interesting tools in the open-source mining arsenal.

At D-Central Technologies, we have been deeply embedded in the open-source mining ecosystem since the beginning. We were the first company to manufacture the Bitaxe Mesh Stand, we developed leading heatsink solutions for the Bitaxe and Bitaxe Hex, and we stock every variant of the Bitaxe, NerdAxe, NerdQAxe, and the PiAxe itself. When we say we are Bitcoin Mining Hackers, we mean it — we take institutional-grade ASIC technology and hack it into accessible solutions for home miners.

What Is the PiAxe?

The PiAxe is a Raspberry Pi Hat — a printed circuit board that mounts directly onto the GPIO header of a Raspberry Pi 4 or later. On that board sits a single BM1366 ASIC chip, voltage regulation circuitry, and the supporting components needed to hash SHA-256 at approximately 500 GH/s (with peaks up to 550 GH/s).

The name itself tells the story: Pi (Raspberry Pi) + Axe (from the Bitaxe lineage of open-source miners). It bridges two worlds — the Raspberry Pi single-board computer ecosystem and the open-source ASIC mining movement pioneered by projects like the Bitaxe.

Unlike standalone miners such as the Bitaxe Supra or the NerdAxe, the PiAxe does not include its own microcontroller, Wi-Fi, or display. It relies on the Raspberry Pi for compute, networking, and user interface. This is both a constraint and a superpower: the Raspberry Pi can simultaneously run Bitcoin Core, a full archival node, Electrum Server, and your mining software — all on one device.

PiAxe Technical Specifications

The PiAxe in the Open-Source Mining Ecosystem

The PiAxe belongs to a growing family of open-source ASIC miners that are fundamentally changing who gets to participate in securing the Bitcoin network. To understand where it fits, it helps to see the full picture.

The PiAxe occupies a unique niche. It is not trying to compete on raw hashrate. Instead, it offers something no other open-source miner does: native integration with a full Linux computer. Your Raspberry Pi can run Bitcoin Core, verify every block, maintain the full UTXO set, and mine — all from a single, compact setup sitting on your desk.

For a deeper comparison of every open-source miner available today, see our Open-Source Bitcoin Miners Comparison 2026.

Why the PiAxe Matters for Decentralization

In 2026, the Bitcoin network hashrate exceeds 800 EH/s. Mining difficulty sits above 110 trillion. The block reward is 3.125 BTC. These numbers represent an industrial-scale competition that can feel alienating to individual Bitcoiners.

But here is the thing that most people miss: decentralization is not about winning blocks. It is about distributing hashrate across as many independent operators as possible, so that no single entity — no pool, no government, no data center — can unilaterally censor transactions or dictate protocol rules.

Every PiAxe running in someone’s home is a node operator who validates their own transactions, a miner who contributes hashrate to the network without trusting a third party, and a vote for the kind of Bitcoin that Satoshi described in the whitepaper. One ASIC, one vote.

The PiAxe makes this especially practical because of the Raspberry Pi foundation underneath it. You are not just plugging in a USB miner. You are running a full-stack Bitcoin node:

• Bitcoin Core — full validation, no trusted third parties
• Mining software — pointed at your own node or a pool of your choice
• Electrum Server (optional) — connect your wallets privately
• Block Explorer (optional) — verify transactions without leaking your addresses to public explorers

This is what sovereignty looks like in practice. Don’t trust, verify — and mine.

Solo Mining with the PiAxe: Every Hash Counts

Can a PiAxe at 500 GH/s solo mine a block against 800+ EH/s of network hashrate? The honest answer: the odds on any given day are astronomically small. But solo mining is not about the expected value calculation that institutional operators run. It is about principle, participation, and the non-zero chance of a 3.125 BTC block reward landing in your wallet.

The math is transparent. At 500 GH/s against ~800 EH/s of total network hashrate, the PiAxe contributes roughly 0.000000000625 of the network’s total power. That translates to an average time between solo blocks measured in tens of thousands of years. We are not going to sugarcoat that number.

But solo blocks happen to small miners. They have happened to Bitaxe owners. They have happened to single-board computers running lottery mining software. The blockchain does not care about the size of your operation — it only cares about valid proof of work.

Pool mining is the practical alternative, and the PiAxe works with any Stratum-compatible pool. Point it at a pool running Stratum V2 for the best censorship-resistance properties, or use a solo mining pool like Solo CKPool to keep your lottery ticket active while still submitting shares.

Either way: every hash counts. Every hash is a vote for the network you want to see.

Setting Up Your PiAxe

The PiAxe is not a beginner device. It is targeted at enthusiasts and hobbyists with existing experience in the Raspberry Pi ecosystem. That said, the setup is straightforward if you are comfortable with Linux and basic soldering or PCB assembly.

What you need:

• A PiAxe board (available from D-Central Technologies)
• A Raspberry Pi 4 (or newer) with adequate cooling
• A quality Raspberry Pi power supply (5V, 3A+ recommended — the PiAxe draws power through the GPIO header)
• A microSD card (64 GB+ recommended for full node operation)
• An external SSD (1 TB+ for a full Bitcoin archival node)
• Raspberry Pi OS (Lite recommended for headless operation)
• piaxe-miner software from the PiAxe GitHub repository

Basic setup steps:

1. Flash Raspberry Pi OS to your microSD card and boot your Pi
2. Mount the PiAxe Hat onto the Raspberry Pi’s 40-pin GPIO header
3. Install Bitcoin Core and sync the blockchain (an external SSD is strongly recommended)
4. Clone the piaxe-miner repository and build the mining software
5. Configure your mining pool or solo mining settings
6. Start mining and monitor your hashrate through the provided interface

The PiAxe is development-stage hardware. Expect to troubleshoot, experiment, and iterate. That is the entire point — this is open-source mining at its rawest, and the community at Open Source Miners United is active and helpful.

PiAxe vs. Bitaxe: Which One Is Right for You?

Both the PiAxe and the Bitaxe family share the same DNA: open-source, BM1366-class ASIC chips, designed for individual miners. But they serve different use cases.

Choose the PiAxe if you want to run a complete Bitcoin node and mine from the same device, you enjoy Linux and command-line tools, or you want maximum customization and the ability to run additional Bitcoin software alongside your miner.

Choose the Bitaxe if you want a standalone, plug-and-mine experience with Wi-Fi, web interface, and OLED display — no separate computer required. Check out all available Bitaxe models at the D-Central Bitaxe Hub.

Both are valid paths to the same destination: running your own hashrate, contributing to decentralization, and participating in the Bitcoin network on your own terms.

Open Source Miners United and the Community Behind the PiAxe

The PiAxe was created by shufps, a developer active in the Open Source Miners United community. OSMU is the collective that has produced many of the open-source mining projects now available — including hardware designs, firmware, and tooling that power the entire ecosystem.

D-Central contributes $10 from every PiAxe sold directly to Open Source Miners United, supporting continued development of open-source mining hardware and software. When you buy a PiAxe from D-Central, you are funding the movement, not just buying a product.

The OSMU community is active on forums and GitHub. If you run into issues setting up your PiAxe, need firmware help, or want to contribute code, OSMU is the place to be. The PiAxe GitHub repository contains the hardware design files, mining software, and documentation.

Who Should Buy a PiAxe?

The PiAxe is not for everyone, and that is by design. It is a development-stage device aimed at a specific audience:

• Bitcoin node operators who want to add mining to their existing Raspberry Pi setup
• Developers who want to work with open-source ASIC mining hardware at the lowest level
• Raspberry Pi enthusiasts who want a Bitcoin-native use case for their hardware
• Cypherpunks and sovereignty advocates who want to validate and mine on the same device
• Educators and students learning about Bitcoin mining, ASIC technology, and proof of work
• Open-source supporters who want to fund and participate in community-driven hardware development

If you want a turnkey solo mining experience, the Bitaxe Supra or the NerdAxe are better starting points. If you want raw power and hackability, the PiAxe is your tool.

Frequently Asked Questions