Nerd Miner Review: I bought a BTC lottery miner, now I am an active part of the BTC network!

After seeing a sall post in another subreddit I become very interested in this small device that can be definied as a "lottery miner", since the mining capabilities are really small, but it has a minimal hash rate and let you become part of the BTC network and help to secure it, even in a small way.

This is the Github project, it's open source.

The Nerd Miner V2 with the \"clock miner\" screen.

Please be advised this is not a product advertising and I will not put in the post a link to buy it. Also please note that the components of the NerdMiner can be bought separately and assembled together, using the open source files to let it make it work. This can save you up to 50% of the cost.

The Project uses a LILYGO T-Display-S3 ESP32-S3 1.9 inch LCD Display Development Board, with WIFI and Bluetooth. A dual-core LX7 microprocessor is installed. Flash memory: 16MB, PSRAM: 8MB, working with 3.3V power supply.

It's defined as a "lottery miner" because it is like playing the lottery with a lesser chance to win. The main aim of this project is to let you learn more about bitcoin mining and be part of the network.

To explain the term "lottery miner": there is a very very small chance to mine a block alone with the nerd miner and earn (at the current rate) a little less than 6.25 BTC (a bit of the reward goes to the mining pool).

The chance to mine a BTC block is solow to be close to 0, I think it's 17,500,000,000,000,000:1, if I calculated it correctly.

Power usage is less than a conventional light bulb (~1.55W)

Hash rate is approximately: 45 KH/s (after the latest update)

Power consumption details:

Device 5V | 0.14A | 0.71W (using a measuring device)Black Fan 5V | 0.126A | 0.63W (manufacturer information)RGB Fan 5V | 0.13A | 0.65W (manufacturer information)

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The \"global stats\" screen

The one that I bought came with a 3d printed case, with a small fan and a USB-C port (no USB C cable was provided). The fan is actually working but it's not really needed to "cool down" the device, and I deactivated it cause it was a bit noisy.

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Nerd Miner default screen, with a pen for size comparison.

The screen can be turned off by clicking the lower button, the device continue to work even when the screen is off.

The setup screen

The setup it's really easy. There are many guides and videos but they are not even needed. The first time that the Nerd Miner is connected to power it shows a QR code. Scanning the QR code connects a smartphone to the WiFi network of the device and then it requires insert the password in the page above and to connect the Nerd Miner to your home WiFi. You have the possibility to insert a BTC address and then save.

If the device it's powered off it automatically reconnect itself when powered back on.

The internal part of the device. There is a small led that light's up when it's on and the fan can be connected to the LILYGO T-Display (note: I have deactivated the fan in this image).

The Nerd Miner works even just with the LILYGO display, but the 3D printed case like mine is open source and the files are on the same github of the project. Some website already offers some customisation options for it.

The Nerd Miner V2 classic LILYGO case.

Personally I bought the device with some BTC that I earned from an altcoin pump, it's so nice to have it on my office desk and I am really happy to be part of the BTC network, even with a minimal hash rate.

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Disclaimer: This is not a financial advice. This post is just a discussion on a product that I've found really interesting. Always DYOR.

While commenting, please respect other's opinion (and mine)!

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^{Note: I am not a native English speaker, if you find any mistake please point them out in the comments so I can correct them!}