Can a NerdMiner really find a Bitcoin block?

Technically yes, since every hash has a chance. In practice the odds at a few hundred kH/s are so small that it will almost certainly never happen. Treat it as a learning toy and a lottery ticket that costs about a watt.

What hashrate does a NerdMiner v2 get?

About 78 kH/s on a T-Display S3 with early firmware, and about 250 to 300 kH/s with newer firmware that uses the chip's built-in SHA-256 hardware. Other ESP32 boards are slower.

What is a NerdMiner Pro, Ultra or 1000 kH/s model?

These names come from resellers, not from the BitMaker project. Some are just the same board in a different case; others run modified firmware. No ESP32 board does 1000 kH/s of real Bitcoin mining, so treat such claims as marketing.

Does DirectPool accept NerdMiners?

Yes. The pool accepts the decimal difficulty NerdMiners ask for and rounds it up to its minimum of 1. Shares come every few hours, and the miner shows as connected while it works.

Which settings do I enter for DirectPool?

In the NerdMinerAP setup page: pool URL stratum.directpool.io, port 3333, your bc1 address (optionally with .worker after it) as the BTC address, and x as the pool password.

How do I build my own NerdMiner?

Buy a LILYGO T-Display S3, open the NerdMiner web flasher in Chrome or Edge, connect the board by USB-C and flash it. Then set it up through the NerdMinerAP hotspot.

How much electricity does it use?

About 1 W, so under 9 kWh a year. That is around 2 a year at 0.20 per kWh.

ESP32 lottery boards

NerdMiner v2

by BitMaker (open source), ESP32-S3, open source hardware

The NerdMiner v2 is open-source firmware that turns a cheap ESP32 board, usually a LILYGO T-Display S3, into a tiny Bitcoin miner with a screen. It does about 78 kH/s on early firmware and 250 to 300 kH/s on newer firmware, using about 1 W. It is an educational lottery ticket, not a money maker.

Published October 5, 2026. Updated October 5, 2026

Parts of the NerdMiner v2, numbered as in the drawing
Item	Part	From the specs
1	Screen	Shows the miner status
2	ESP32 module	ESP32-S3 microcontroller (no mining ASIC). Other ESP32 boards are supported at lower speeds
3	Board	WiFi, 2.4 GHz only
4	Power input	USB-C, any 5 V phone charger or computer port

Key figures

Hashrate: 250 kH/s
Power: 1 W
Efficiency: 4,000,000 J/TH
Price range: $25 to $70

Availability: sold new.

Specifications

Hashrate: About 78 kH/s on early firmware, 250 to 300 kH/s on newer firmware using the ESP32-S3 SHA hardware
Power draw: About 1 W
Efficiency: Millions of J/TH: no comparison with ASIC miners
Chip: ESP32-S3 microcontroller (no mining ASIC). Other ESP32 boards are supported at lower speeds
Cooling and noise: No fan. Silent
Connectivity: WiFi, 2.4 GHz only
Power supply: USB-C, any 5 V phone charger or computer port
Size and weight: About the size of a USB stick with a 1.9 inch screen (T-Display S3), a few tens of grams
Open source: Yes: firmware and 3D-printable case
Release year: 2023
Firmware: NerdMiner_v2 (BitMaker), plus community forks

Good and less good

Good

Cheap and silent, with a screen showing hashrate, Bitcoin price and network stats.
Uses about 1 W: under 9 kWh a year.
Fully open source and a fun way to learn how mining works. You can build one yourself.

Less good

Hashrate is millions of times lower than a single Bitaxe. The chance of a block is close to zero.
In a pool its share of a block reward is almost nothing, usually below the minimum payout.
No web dashboard; changing settings means resetting and using the hotspot again.
Many listings sell "Pro" or "1000 kH/s" versions that are not official BitMaker products.

Set it up on DirectPool

The NerdMiner has no web dashboard. You set it up once through a WiFi hotspot it creates (a captive portal), or with a config.json file on an SD card on boards that have a slot.

Type exactly this

Pool URL (PoolUrl): stratum.directpool.io
Pool port (PoolPort): 3333
BTC address (BtcWallet): your_bc1_address.worker_name
Pool password (PoolPassword): x

Choose your mining region

Showing Europe, Lithuania (main server).

Changing the location only changes the address shown above. Copy it into your miner settings and restart or reconnect the miner. Miners already connected stay where they are. Every server mines the same pool, with the same payouts.

Browser ping, measured live from this page

Europe, Lithuania...

North America, Chicago...

Asia, Jakarta...

This measures your browser connection, not your miner or the full relay-to-pool path.

Replace your_bc1_address with a Bitcoin address you control (bc1 or 3). The part after the dot is a name for this machine, so you can tell your miners apart. Addresses starting with 1 are not accepted.

1.Plug the board into USB-C power. On first boot it opens a WiFi hotspot called NerdMinerAP. Join it with the password MineYourCoins.
2.A setup page opens on your phone or laptop. If not, open http://192.168.4.1 in a browser.
3.Choose your home WiFi (2.4 GHz) and enter its password.
4.Replace the default pool (public-pool.io) with the values above. Put your bc1 address in the BTC address field, with .worker_name after it if you like.
5.Save. The board reboots, joins your WiFi and starts mining. The screen shows its hashrate.
6.To change settings later, hold the reset-configuration button for 5 seconds (the top button on two-button boards) and the hotspot comes back.

Common mistakes

Leaving public-pool.io in the pool field. NerdMiner ships pointed there, so replace both the URL and the port.
Typing stratum+tcp:// in the pool URL field. Use only stratum.directpool.io.
Expecting shares within minutes. At the pool minimum difficulty of 1, a 250 kH/s NerdMiner needs about 5 hours on average per share, longer on old firmware. It still shows as connected meanwhile.
Trying to join a 5 GHz network. The ESP32 only sees 2.4 GHz.

After a few minutes, paste your address on the pool page to see the machine. Small miners can take a while to send their first share.

Your odds with this miner

Miner250 kH/s

Network difficulty: Loading
DirectPool, 1 h avg: Loading
Next block value: Loading

Chance of finding at least one block, with 250 kH/s

	Solo	With DirectPool
Per day
Per month
Per year

If DirectPool finds a block, this miner would get about

These are chances, not schedules. Hashing has no memory: a miner that has not found a block is not closer to one. Open the full calculator

Electricity cost

Running all year at about 1 W, the NerdMiner v2 uses about 8.77 kWh a year.

Price per kWh	Per year	Per month
0.10	0.88	0.07
0.20	1.75	0.15
0.30	2.63	0.22

Same currency as your electricity price (dollars, euros, pounds). Real draw depends on firmware settings and frequency.

Where to buy

D-Central Technologies (NerdMiner)Ships to: Canada, ships worldwide
Assembled and flashed.
BitronicsShips to: EU
European seller of small open miners.
LILYGO T-Display S3 board (build it yourself)Ships to: Worldwide, ships from China
Flash it with the free web flasher listed in the sources.

Typical price $25 to $70, checked October 5, 2026. Prices move, check the store. Plain store links. We earn nothing from them.

Questions

Can a NerdMiner really find a Bitcoin block?: Technically yes, since every hash has a chance. In practice the odds at a few hundred kH/s are so small that it will almost certainly never happen. Treat it as a learning toy and a lottery ticket that costs about a watt.
What hashrate does a NerdMiner v2 get?: About 78 kH/s on a T-Display S3 with early firmware, and about 250 to 300 kH/s with newer firmware that uses the chip's built-in SHA-256 hardware. Other ESP32 boards are slower.
What is a NerdMiner Pro, Ultra or 1000 kH/s model?: These names come from resellers, not from the BitMaker project. Some are just the same board in a different case; others run modified firmware. No ESP32 board does 1000 kH/s of real Bitcoin mining, so treat such claims as marketing.
Does DirectPool accept NerdMiners?: Yes. The pool accepts the decimal difficulty NerdMiners ask for and rounds it up to its minimum of 1. Shares come every few hours, and the miner shows as connected while it works.
Which settings do I enter for DirectPool?: In the NerdMinerAP setup page: pool URL stratum.directpool.io, port 3333, your bc1 address (optionally with .worker after it) as the BTC address, and x as the pool password.
How do I build my own NerdMiner?: Buy a LILYGO T-Display S3, open the NerdMiner web flasher in Chrome or Edge, connect the board by USB-C and flash it. Then set it up through the NerdMinerAP hotspot.
How much electricity does it use?: About 1 W, so under 9 kWh a year. That is around 2 a year at 0.20 per kWh.