Look, I’m gonna be real with you — setting up Phoenix Miner for solo mining with your own full node is basically the coolest thing I’ve done in crypto mining. Yeah, I’m 13 and maybe I shouldn’t be this excited about software configuration, but there’s something incredibly satisfying about mining directly against a node YOU control instead of trusting some pool somewhere.
When I first tried solo mining with Phoenix Miner, I totally messed it up. Like, spent three days wondering why my hashrate looked perfect but I wasn’t actually mining anything. Turns out I had the node configuration wrong. Don’t make my mistake — I’m going to walk you through exactly how to set this up properly.
The cool part is: Phoenix Miner is actually one of the best pieces of mining software out there for Ethash-based coins, and with Ethereum gone proof-of-stake, there are still some pretty solid Ethash coins worth solo mining if you’ve got the hashrate for it.
Why Phoenix Miner for Solo Mining Ethash Coins?
Phoenix Miner has been around since 2018, and it’s honestly my go-to software for GPU mining Ethash algorithm coins. The developer keeps updating it, the performance is strong, and most importantly for us solo miners — it has native support for mining directly to a node without needing proxy software.
Here’s what makes it work really well for solo mining:
- Direct stratum connection to your full node
- Lower stale share rates compared to other miners
- Detailed logging so you can actually see what’s happening
- Works with pretty much any Ethash coin that has a node
- Supports both AMD and NVIDIA GPUs without weird compatibility issues
The main Ethash coins you can solo mine with Phoenix Miner in 2026 are Ethereum Classic (ETC), Ubiq (UBQ), and a few smaller networks. I’ll be honest — most of the smaller Ethash coins have such low difficulty that solo mining is actually possible with just a few GPUs. That’s the sweet spot we’re hunting for.
One thing I wish I knew earlier: Phoenix Miner is technically paid software with a 0.65% developer fee, but that fee only applies when you find shares or blocks. So if you’re solo mining and not finding blocks frequently, you’re barely paying any fee at all. Pretty fair deal, actually.
Setting Up Your Ethash Full Node for Solo Mining
Before you can point Phoenix Miner at anything, you need a working full node. This is where most people give up, but honestly it’s not that complicated once you’ve done it once.
Let’s use Ethereum Classic as our example since it’s the biggest Ethash coin still mineable. The process is similar for other coins.
Installing Core-Geth for Ethereum Classic
Core-Geth is the main node software for ETC. Download it from their GitHub releases page — make sure you grab the right version for your operating system. I run Windows on my mining rig because honestly that’s what I’m comfortable with, but Linux works just as well (and uses less resources).
Here’s what I do:
- Create a folder like C:ETC-Node
- Extract the Core-Geth files there
- Open Command Prompt as Administrator
- Navigate to your folder with: cd C:ETC-Node
Now launch the node with mining enabled. This is the command I use:
geth –http –http.addr “127.0.0.1” –http.port 8545 –http.api “eth,net,web3” –mine –miner.threads 0 –miner.etherbase YOUR_WALLET_ADDRESS
Replace YOUR_WALLET_ADDRESS with your actual ETC wallet address. The –miner.threads 0 part is important — it tells the node to accept external miners but not to mine itself (since CPU mining Ethash is basically useless).
The first sync takes FOREVER. Like, I started my first ETC node sync before dinner and it was still going the next morning. The blockchain is about 85GB currently, depending on your connection speed and the health of peer connections. Just let it run overnight.
Verifying Your Node Is Ready
Once the sync finishes, you need to check that your node is actually ready to accept mining connections. Open another Command Prompt window and try this:
curl –data ‘{“method”:”eth_getWork”,”params”:[],”id”:1,”jsonrpc”:”2.0″}’ -H “Content-Type: application/json” -X POST localhost:8545
If you get back a response with hex values, your node is working. If you get an error, something’s wrong with your HTTP API configuration.
Don’t make my mistake: I forgot to enable the HTTP API the first time and spent like two hours wondering why Phoenix Miner couldn’t connect. The –http flags in the launch command are absolutely necessary.
Configuring Phoenix Miner for Direct Node Mining
Okay, now the fun part — actually connecting Phoenix Miner to your node. This is way simpler than the node setup, honestly.
First, download Phoenix Miner from the official Bitcointalk thread. I’m not linking directly because versions change, but search “Phoenix Miner Bitcointalk” and grab the latest version. Extract it to a folder like C:Phoenix.
Create a new .bat file in that folder. I call mine solo_etc.bat. Here’s what goes inside:
PhoenixMiner.exe -pool http://127.0.0.1:8545 -wal YOUR_WALLET_ADDRESS -proto 3 -coin etc
Let me break down what each part does:
- -pool http://127.0.0.1:8545 — this points to your local node
- -wal YOUR_WALLET_ADDRESS — where your block rewards go if you find one
- -proto 3 — this forces the newer stratum protocol
- -coin etc — optimizes for Ethereum Classic’s DAG and algorithm tweaks
Save that file and double-click it. Phoenix Miner should start up, connect to your node, and start showing hashrate. If you see “GPU0: shares found” or similar messages, you’re mining!
Optimizing Phoenix Miner Settings for Solo Mining
The default settings work, but here are some tweaks that actually make a difference when solo mining:
-stales 0 — This rejects stale shares, which matters in solo mining because you only care about valid blocks
-log 2 — More detailed logging so you can see exactly what’s happening
-logfile solo_log.txt — Saves everything to a file so you can check it later
-eres 0 — Disables DAG allocation optimizations that sometimes cause instability
My actual command line for Ethereum Classic solo mining looks like this:
PhoenixMiner.exe -pool http://127.0.0.1:8545 -wal 0xYOUR_WALLET_HERE -proto 3 -coin etc -stales 0 -log 2 -logfile solo_log.txt -gt 75
That -gt 75 at the end limits GPU temperature to 75°C. Basically important if you’re solo mining 24/7 and don’t want your cards to melt. Ask me how I learned that.
Which Ethash Coins Are Actually Worth Solo Mining?
Okay, real talk time. Not every Ethash coin makes sense for solo mining, and I’m gonna be brutally honest about the odds here.
Ethereum Classic (ETC)
Current price: price unavailable
Network hashrate: Around 180 TH/s (varies constantly)
Block reward: 2.56 ETC currently
Block time: ~13 seconds
ETC is the big one. It’s the largest Ethash network now that ETH is proof-of-stake. Here’s the problem: the difficulty is massive. If you have less than 2 GH/s (that’s 2000 MH/s), your chances of finding a block are… not great. Like, maybe one block every few months if you’re lucky.
Let’s do the math. At 180 TH/s network hashrate and ~6600 blocks per day, if you have 1 GH/s of hashrate, you own about 0.00056% of the network. That means you’d expect to find 0.0037 blocks per day, or about one block every 270 days.
But here’s why people still do it: that one block is worth about 2.56 ETC, which is currently around $67. Plus there’s something really exciting about solo mining — it’s like buying a lottery ticket every single share you submit, except the odds are way better than any actual lottery.
Ubiq (UBQ)
Ubiq is a smaller Ethash coin with way lower network hashrate. Last I checked it was under 2 GH/s total network hashrate. The cool part is: if you’ve got even 200 MH/s, you’re looking at finding a block every couple weeks potentially.
The catch? Lower liquidity, smaller exchanges, and the price is way more volatile. I’m not saying don’t mine it, I’m just saying don’t count on being able to sell large amounts quickly.
The Small Coins
There are a bunch of tiny Ethash coins like EtherGem, Atheios, and others. Some of them have network hashrates under 100 MH/s total. You could literally solo mine these with a single GPU and find blocks regularly.
The problem? Most of them have basically no liquidity. I found some blocks on a tiny Ethash coin once and couldn’t sell them anywhere. Learned that lesson the hard way.
If you’re just doing this for fun and learning (which honestly is a totally valid reason), these small coins are perfect. If you’re trying to make money, stick to ETC or maybe UBQ.
Real-World Phoenix Miner Solo Mining Performance
Let me share some actual numbers from my setup. I run a small rig with three RTX 3060 Ti cards — nothing crazy expensive. Each card does about 62 MH/s on Ethereum Classic after tuning, so about 186 MH/s total.
Power draw is around 390W total for the whole rig (130W per card). At my electricity rate of $0.12 per kWh, that’s about $1.12 per day in power costs.
Here’s what my Phoenix Miner output looks like when it’s running:
GPU0: 62.4 MH/s, GPU1: 61.8 MH/s, GPU2: 62.1 MH/s
At 186 MH/s on a 180 TH/s network, I own roughly 0.0001% of the hashrate. That means I’d expect to find about 0.00066 blocks per day, or one block every 1515 days. Yeah. That’s over four years.
So why do I do it? Honestly, because it’s fun, I’m learning a ton about how blockchain mining actually works, and there’s always that tiny chance I get lucky and hit a block way sooner than expected. That’s basically happened to some solo miners before — I’ve seen people with 100 MH/s find ETC blocks within weeks due to random luck.
But real talk: if you want consistent returns, pool mining makes way more sense. I also run some of my hashrate on a pool for steady income. Solo mining is for the thrill and the learning experience. Check out our statistical analysis of solo mining success rates for more realistic expectations.
Optimizing Your GPU Settings for Maximum Hashrate
You can’t just plug in your GPUs and expect optimal performance. Here’s what I do for my RTX 3060 Ti cards:
- Core clock: -200 MHz (underclocking actually helps with Ethash)
- Memory clock: +1200 MHz (this is where Ethash performance comes from)
- Power limit: 130W (default is 200W)
- Fan speed: 65% constant
I use MSI Afterburner for these settings. The result is 62 MH/s per card at only 130W instead of the stock 200W. That’s huge for electricity costs over time.
For AMD cards, the tuning process is different. The RX 6700 XT is actually really efficient for Ethash — you can hit 46-48 MH/s at around 90W with proper BIOS mods and tuning. But I’m not gonna lie, AMD cards are way more finicky to tune than NVIDIA for Ethash.
Around 62 MH/s for Ethash mining at 130W after tuning. Best efficiency for mid-range GPUs in 2026. Great value if you can find one used.
Troubleshooting Common Phoenix Miner Solo Mining Issues
Okay, I’ve messed up pretty much every possible thing you can mess up with this setup. Here are the problems I ran into and how I fixed them:
Phoenix Miner Won’t Connect to Node
This was my first big problem. Phoenix Miner would launch but immediately say “Cannot connect to pool.”
The fix: Make sure your node is actually running and fully synced. Check that you enabled the HTTP API with –http when launching the node. Also verify you’re using http://127.0.0.1:8545 and not https or some other port.
Hashrate Shows But No Shares Accepted
This one drove me crazy for days. My hashrate looked fine in Phoenix Miner, but the “shares accepted” counter stayed at zero forever.
What I learned: In solo mining, “shares” are actually potential blocks. You won’t see accepted shares every few seconds like in pool mining. You might go hours or days without seeing anything, then suddenly get an accepted share when you find a block.
The way to verify it’s actually working: Check your node’s logs. You should see Phoenix Miner connecting and submitting work. The node logs are usually in the same folder where you’re running the node.
High Stale Rate
If Phoenix Miner shows a bunch of stale shares, your node might be having sync issues or your internet connection is lagging.
I fixed this by:
- Adding more peer connections to my node
- Making sure no other programs were hogging bandwidth
- Switching to a wired connection instead of WiFi (this actually helped a lot)
GPU Crashes or Driver Errors
If your mining suddenly stops with driver errors or black screens, your overclock is probably too aggressive. Dial back the memory overclock by 100 MHz and try again.
Also make sure your virtual memory (page file) is set large enough. Windows needs about 10GB per GPU for the DAG file. I learned this when my system kept crashing after a few hours — turned out I only had 8GB virtual memory set and I had three GPUs trying to use it.
Electricity Costs and ROI Reality Check
Okay, time for some brutal honesty because I care about you not wasting money.
My 186 MH/s rig costs about $1.12 per day in electricity. Over a month, that’s $33.60. Over a year, that’s $408.80 in power costs.
At current ETC difficulty and my hashrate, I’d expect to find one block every 1515 days (over 4 years) on average. One block is worth 2.56 ETC, currently around $67. But in 4 years I’ll have spent $1634 on electricity.
See the problem?
Now, there are some counterarguments:
- You might get lucky and find a block way sooner
- ETC price might go up significantly
- Network hashrate might drop, improving your odds
- You’re learning valuable skills about crypto mining
But financially, solo mining Ethereum Classic with under 1 GH/s is basically gambling. Which is fine if you’re doing it for fun and education (like I am), but don’t quit your day job expecting this to make you rich.
For reference, check out our profitability comparison across different coins to see how Ethash stacks up against other algorithms.
If electricity costs are a concern, read our guide on cutting your power bill — there are actually some pretty clever ways to reduce costs.
Alternative Ethash Solo Mining Setups
Phoenix Miner isn’t your only option, honestly. Here are some alternatives worth considering:
T-Rex Miner
T-Rex is another solid miner for NVIDIA cards. It supports solo mining to a node and actually has slightly better hashrate on some newer cards like the RTX 40-series. The developer fee is 1% which is a bit higher than Phoenix Miner’s 0.65%, but if you’re getting better hashrate it might be worth it.
The configuration is similar — just point it at your local node and let it run.
lolMiner
This one’s particularly good if you’re running AMD cards. The Ethash performance on AMD GPUs is actually really strong with lolMiner. It also has a “zombie mode” for older GPUs with less than 4GB VRAM, though those are basically useless for modern Ethash mining due to DAG size.
TeamRedMiner
Another AMD-focused option. Pretty solid hashrates and the developers are active with updates. I haven’t used it as much personally since I run mostly NVIDIA cards, but people on Reddit swear by it for AMD setups.
If you want to try GPU mining with a different algorithm entirely, check out our GMiner multi-algorithm guide — it covers a ton of different coins you can solo mine.
Should You Actually Solo Mine Ethash in 2026?
Alright, final verdict time.
Solo mining Ethash coins with Phoenix Miner is absolutely worth doing IF:
- You have at least 500 MH/s of hashrate (preferably more)
- You’re targeting smaller Ethash coins, not ETC
- You have cheap or free electricity
- You’re doing this for fun and learning, not primarily for profit
- You understand you might go months without finding a block
It’s probably NOT worth doing if:
- You only have one or two GPUs
- Your electricity is expensive
- You need consistent income from mining
- You’re targeting ETC specifically without huge hashrate
For comparison, if you’re interested in solo mining but want better odds, consider checking out coins like Ravencoin (KawPow algorithm) or Vertcoin (Verthash algorithm) which have lower network difficulties and more realistic block-finding odds for small miners.
Personally, I’m keeping my solo mining setup running because I think it’s fun and I’m genuinely learning a ton. But I’m also honest with myself that this is more hobby than business. The day I find my first ETC block solo is going to be absolutely incredible, even if I waited years for it. That’s the magic of solo mining.
If you want something with better odds but similar excitement, look into smaller coins like Neoxa or Clore.ai — they use different algorithms but the solo mining experience is similar and your chances are way better with modest hashrate.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take to find a block solo mining Ethereum Classic with Phoenix Miner?
It depends entirely on your hashrate. With 1 GH/s (1000 MH/s), you’d expect to find one block every 270 days statistically on ETC. With 100 MH/s, that jumps to about 2700 days. These are averages — you could get lucky and find one tomorrow, or go twice as long without finding anything. That’s why solo mining is basically gambling, just with way better odds than an actual casino.
Can I solo mine Ethereum Classic with Phoenix Miner without running a full node?
Technically yes, by connecting to a solo mining pool that does the node stuff for you. But honestly, that defeats the whole point of solo mining. You’re trusting someone else’s infrastructure, paying their fees, and losing the independence that makes solo mining cool. Running your own node takes about 85GB of disk space and some initial setup time, but after that it just runs. Totally worth it in my opinion.
Is Phoenix Miner safe to download and use for solo mining?
Phoenix Miner is legit software that’s been around since 2018. Download it only from the official Bitcointalk thread or the developer’s website. Don’t grab it from random download sites because there are fake versions with actual malware. Windows Defender sometimes flags it as a virus because mining software behaves similarly to cryptojacking malware, but if you downloaded it from the official source it’s fine. Add an exception in your antivirus for the Phoenix Miner folder.
What happens if I find a block while solo mining with Phoenix Miner?
The block reward goes directly to the wallet address you specified in your Phoenix Miner command. There’s no pool to take a cut. You get the full block reward (2.56 ETC currently for Ethereum Classic) plus any transaction fees in that block. Phoenix Miner will show “Share accepted” and if you’re watching your node logs, you’ll see it broadcast the new block to the network. Then you wait for confirmations — usually about 100 blocks before exchanges will let you spend it. It’s basically the best feeling ever when it happens.
Can I use Phoenix Miner to solo mine multiple Ethash coins at the same time?
Not simultaneously on the same GPUs, no. But you can run multiple instances of Phoenix Miner if you have enough GPUs — like point GPU 0-1 at your ETC node and GPU 2-3 at a Ubiq node. You’d need separate batch files for each instance and make sure to specify which GPUs each instance uses with the -gpus parameter. I haven’t tried this personally because I only have three cards and I’d rather focus all my hashrate on one chain. If you’re interested in mining multiple coins, check out our dual mining setup guide for strategies that actually make sense.