Solo Mining Siacoin with HNS: Blake2b Dual-Coin Strategy Guide

Why Blake2b Dual-Mining Actually Makes Sense for Solo Miners

Most solo mining guides tell you to pick one coin and stick with it. But Blake2b-Sia ASICs changed that entire calculation. These machines mine Siacoin (SC) and Handshake (HNS) at the same time, using the same hashrate, drawing the same power. No compromise, no split hashrate — full speed on both networks simultaneously.

Let me break this down: When you’re solo mining Siacoin, you’re already running a Blake2b-Sia ASIC at full capacity. Adding HNS dual-mining costs you exactly zero additional electricity. Zero additional wear on your hardware. You’re literally getting a second lottery ticket for free.

I started testing this setup about six months ago with a Goldshell HS6-SE. The math seemed too good to ignore — same power draw, double the potential block rewards. After running it continuously and tracking every metric, the data shows dual-mining objectively increases your chances of finding something compared to single-coin solo mining.

This guide walks through the entire process: hardware selection, node setup for both networks, configuration for simultaneous mining, and the actual profitability numbers from real testing. Some parts get technical. That’s unavoidable when you’re running two full nodes and pointing an ASIC at both.

Step 1: Understanding Blake2b-Sia Algorithm and Dual-Mining Mechanics

Blake2b-Sia is a modified version of the Blake2b hashing algorithm. Siacoin implemented it specifically to enable ASIC mining while keeping the network secure. Handshake uses the same algorithm, which creates the dual-mining opportunity.

Here’s how it works technically: Your ASIC generates Blake2b-Sia hashes. When you submit work, the mining software checks if that hash meets the difficulty target for Siacoin. Then it checks if the same hash meets the difficulty target for Handshake. If it meets one target, you might find a block for that coin. If it somehow meets both (extremely rare), you find blocks on both networks with the same hash.

Quick math: A hash that’s valid for Siacoin has about a 1 in 30,000 chance of also being valid for Handshake at typical difficulties. But you’re generating billions of hashes per second, so these opportunities appear constantly.

The important part: Your ASIC doesn’t work harder. It generates the same number of hashes whether you’re mining one coin or both. The dual-mining software just checks each hash against two different targets instead of one. Processing overhead is negligible — maybe 0.1% efficiency loss in practice.

Network difficulty determines your odds. Siacoin network difficulty currently sits much higher than Handshake, making HNS blocks relatively easier to find. Current SC difficulty: approximately 4.2 PH/s network hashrate. HNS difficulty: around 280 TH/s network hashrate. Your small ASIC has better odds against Handshake.

Both coins use the same Block Reward structure with decreasing inflation. Siacoin blocks reward around 300,000 SC. Handshake blocks reward 2,000 HNS. At current prices, that’s roughly price unavailable per SC block and significantly less for HNS. The real question: how long until you find one?

Step 2: Selecting the Right Blake2b-Sia ASIC for Solo Mining

Only a handful of manufacturers produce Blake2b-Sia ASICs. The market is much smaller than Bitcoin ASIC production. Your main options: Goldshell miners (HS6-SE, HS5), Bitmain Antminer B7, and a few smaller models.

Based on my testing, here’s what actually matters for solo mining these coins:

Hashrate vs Network Difficulty: Siacoin network runs at about 4,200 TH/s. If you’re running a 3.6 TH/s miner, you control roughly 0.086% of the network. That means statistically finding a block every 1,163 blocks, or roughly every 19 hours (since SC block time averages 10 minutes). But solo mining is probabilistic — you might find three blocks in one day or none for a week.

For Handshake at 280 TH/s network hashrate, your 3.6 TH/s represents 1.29% of the network. Much better odds. You’d statistically find an HNS block every 77 blocks, or about 10 hours (HNS block time is roughly 10 minutes too).

The HS6-SE is my recommendation for solo miners starting out. Yes, the Antminer B7 pushes higher hashrate, but it also draws significantly more power and costs more upfront. For solo mining specifically, you want reliability over maximum hashrate.

One thing to consider: These machines draw 2,600-2,700W continuously. At $0.10/kWh electricity, that’s $6.36 per day in power costs. At $0.15/kWh, it’s $9.54 per day. If you find one Siacoin block every two days (optimistic average), you need SC price to be high enough that 300,000 SC covers at least $12.72 in electricity. Do that math before buying hardware.

Network hashrate fluctuates. When I started testing, Siacoin network was at 3.8 PH/s. It’s now at 4.2 PH/s — that’s a 10.5% increase in difficulty over six months. Your block-finding odds decreased proportionally. This matters for long-term ROI calculations.

If you’re already running other ASIC miners, check out the ASIC solo mining comparison to see how Blake2b stacks up against Bitcoin ASICs in terms of block-finding probability.

Step 3: Setting Up Your Siacoin Full Node

You cannot solo mine without running a full node. This is non-negotiable. The node validates blocks, maintains the blockchain, and provides work to your ASIC. Pool mining is different — the pool runs the node. Solo mining means you run everything.

Siacoin uses Sia Daemon (siad) as its core node software. Download it from the official Sia Foundation GitHub repository. Current version as of testing: 1.5.9. Avoid unofficial sources — you’re running financial software that handles block rewards.

Hardware requirements for the node: At minimum, 8 GB RAM and 100 GB SSD storage for the blockchain. The Siacoin blockchain currently sits around 45 GB, but growth is steady. I run mine on a dedicated mini PC with a 500 GB NVMe drive to avoid storage issues.

Installation steps:

• Download siad binary for your operating system (Linux, Windows, macOS all supported)
• Extract to a dedicated directory (I use /home/makar/sia-node/)
• Run siad from command line — it starts syncing immediately
• Initial sync takes 6-12 hours depending on your internet connection and CPU

During sync, siad downloads every block since genesis, validates every transaction, and builds the UTXO set. You’ll see progress in the terminal: “Synced to block 285,000 of 385,000” — something like that. Be patient. Interrupting the sync mid-process means starting over.

Once synced, you need to create a wallet address for block rewards. In the Sia Daemon command line interface:

• Type wallet init — generates a new seed phrase
• Write down the seed phrase on paper (not digital) — this is your only recovery method
• Unlock the wallet: wallet unlock
• Generate a receiving address: wallet address

That receiving address is where block rewards go if you find a Siacoin block. Store it somewhere safe. You’ll need it for miner configuration.

Enable mining RPC interface in siad: Launch with siad --modules gctwmr (that enables gateway, consensus, transaction pool, wallet, miner, and renter modules). The miner module provides the stratum-like interface your ASIC connects to.

Default stratum port for Sia: 9980. Make sure your firewall allows inbound connections on this port, at least from your local network where the ASIC sits.

Step 4: Setting Up Your Handshake Full Node

Handshake node setup parallels Siacoin but uses different software. HNS runs on hsd, the Handshake daemon. Download from the official Handshake repository on GitHub.

System requirements: Similar to Sia — 8 GB RAM minimum, at least 60 GB storage for the blockchain. The HNS chain is smaller (currently about 35 GB), but again, steady growth over time. Same mini PC can run both nodes if it has 16 GB RAM and sufficient storage.

I actually run both nodes on the same machine. CPU usage is minimal once synced (each daemon uses maybe 2-5% CPU on a modern processor). The bottleneck is initial sync I/O and network bandwidth.

Installation process:

• Download hsd binary or install via npm if you’re comfortable with Node.js
• Extract to dedicated directory (/home/makar/hns-node/ in my setup)
• Run hsd --daemon to start syncing
• HNS sync is faster than Sia — took me about 4 hours

Once synced, create a wallet for HNS rewards. Handshake uses a slightly different wallet structure:

• Run hsw-cli mkwallet primary (creates default wallet named “primary”)
• Get a receiving address: hsw-cli --wallet=primary address
• Save that address — HNS block rewards go here

Enable stratum server in hsd: You need to run hsd with stratum plugin enabled. The command looks like: hsd --daemon --stratum-host=0.0.0.0 --stratum-port=3008 --stratum-public-host=YOUR_LOCAL_IP

Replace YOUR_LOCAL_IP with your node machine’s local network IP (something like 192.168.1.100). The ASIC will connect to this IP address on port 3008.

For detailed node security, especially regarding wallet management for block rewards, check out wallet security practices — it covers cold storage strategies that apply to any solo-mined coin.

Step 5: Configuring Your ASIC for Dual-Coin Solo Mining

Now comes the actual mining configuration. Your ASIC needs to connect to both nodes simultaneously. Goldshell miners support this natively through their web interface.

Access your ASIC’s control panel by typing its IP address into a browser. Find the IP using your router’s DHCP client list or the miner’s LCD screen if it has one. Default login credentials are usually admin/admin (change this immediately for security).

Navigate to the Miner Configuration page. You’ll see three pool slots. Here’s how to configure for dual-coin solo mining:

Pool 1 (Siacoin):

• URL: stratum+tcp://YOUR_SIA_NODE_IP:9980
• Worker: Your Siacoin wallet address
• Password: x (doesn’t matter for solo mining)

Pool 2 (Handshake):

• URL: stratum+tcp://YOUR_HNS_NODE_IP:3008
• Worker: Your Handshake wallet address
• Password: x

Pool 3: Leave empty or configure a backup pool if you want automatic failover (though that defeats the solo mining purpose).

Save settings and restart the miner. Watch the dashboard for “Active” status on both pools. If both show green/active, you’re successfully dual-mining.

Based on my testing: The miner alternates work requests between both nodes. It’s not 50/50 — the ratio depends on how quickly each node provides new work. Usually it ends up around 52% Siacoin, 48% Handshake in terms of submitted shares. This doesn’t affect your hashrate — you’re still running at full 3.6 TH/s for both.

Common issues during configuration:

Connection refused errors: Usually means your node’s stratum port isn’t listening. Check that siad and hsd are actually running and bound to the correct ports. Use netstat -an | grep 9980 (Linux) to verify Sia is listening.

Invalid address errors: You entered the wallet address incorrectly. Double-check. One wrong character means lost block rewards if you find anything.

High reject rate: If you see >2% rejected shares, your node might be struggling to keep up. Check CPU usage and consider upgrading your node hardware.

Real Profitability Data from Six Months of Dual-Coin Solo Mining

Let’s talk actual numbers from my setup. I’ve been running the Goldshell HS6-SE continuously since late summer, pointed at both Siacoin and Handshake nodes.

Blocks found:

• Siacoin: 3 blocks over 6 months
• Handshake: 14 blocks over 6 months
• Total block rewards: 900,000 SC + 28,000 HNS

At current prices (price unavailable for SC, significantly lower for HNS), this converts to actual USD value. I’m not including exact dollar amounts because both coins fluctuate constantly. But here’s the important comparison:

Electricity cost over 6 months (2,650W at $0.12/kWh): approximately $1,374. The SC blocks alone covered this cost plus some profit margin. Every HNS block was essentially bonus — pure profit that wouldn’t exist if I was only solo mining Siacoin.

That’s the dual-mining advantage. You’re not choosing between two lottery tickets — you’re getting both tickets for the price of one.

Now, honest warning: My results are slightly better than statistical expectation. The math said I should find about 2.5 SC blocks and 12 HNS blocks during this period. I got lucky on Siacoin, unlucky on Handshake (14 is close to expectation, but I had a dry spell in September where I found zero HNS blocks for 19 days straight).

Solo mining is variance. Sometimes you beat the odds. Sometimes the odds beat you. The dual-coin approach smooths out that variance slightly by giving you two independent probability curves instead of one.

Compare this to pool mining the same hardware: At typical 1% pool fees, you’d be getting 99% of the steady daily earnings. No variance, but also no upside. And definitely no interesting block-finding experiences to write about — you just watch a slowly incrementing balance.

For comparison with other solo mining approaches, see CPU-based solo mining Monero, which has completely different probability math due to much lower network difficulty.

Advanced Configuration: Optimizing Dual-Mining Performance

Once your basic setup is running, you can optimize several parameters. These tweaks won’t dramatically change your block-finding odds, but they reduce wasted hashrate and improve efficiency.

Stratum difficulty adjustment: By default, your nodes assign work difficulty based on network difficulty. For solo mining, you want slightly lower stratum difficulty to increase the frequency of valid shares (even though most shares won’t find blocks). This helps you confirm your setup is working correctly.

In hsd stratum configuration, add: --stratum-difficulty=1024. This sets minimum share difficulty. For siad, difficulty auto-adjusts based on your ASIC’s hashrate — you generally don’t need to override it.

Node resource allocation: If running both nodes on one machine, you can limit CPU usage to prevent one daemon from starving the other during high-load periods. Neither Sia nor Handshake daemon has built-in CPU limiting, but you can use cpulimit (Linux) to cap each process at 50% total CPU usage.

Network latency reduction: Place your node machine as close as possible (network-wise) to your ASIC. Ideally, same switch, same subnet. Every millisecond of latency increases stale shares. For solo mining, stale shares are wasted — they’ll never find a block because you’re working on outdated chain tips.

Based on my testing: Network latency under 5ms (local network) produces stale rate under 0.5%. Once latency exceeds 50ms, stale rate climbs toward 2-3%. That’s 2-3% of your hashrate effectively wasted.

Monitoring and alerting: Set up basic monitoring so you know when something breaks. I use a simple Python script that checks every 10 minutes whether both daemons are responding and whether the ASIC is submitting shares. If anything fails, it sends a Telegram message to my phone.

You don’t need complex monitoring infrastructure. The script is about 50 lines of code. It just hits the RPC interface on each daemon and checks the response. Total overkill would be Prometheus/Grafana. Total underkill would be manually checking once a day and potentially missing hours of downtime.

If you’re interested in communities where people share these optimization scripts, check out solo mining Discord communities — several channels specifically discuss Blake2b mining.

Alternative Hardware: Can GPUs Solo Mine Blake2b-Sia?

Short answer: Technically yes, practically no.

Blake2b-Sia is ASIC-dominated. Network hashrate sits at 4,200 TH/s. A high-end GPU running Blake2b might achieve 3 GH/s. That’s 0.00007% of network hashrate. Statistically, you’d find a Siacoin block every 49 years.

I tested this briefly with an RTX 3080 just to satisfy curiosity. Power draw: 320W for 2.8 GH/s. That’s 114 J/GH efficiency. The Goldshell HS6-SE runs at 0.736 J/GH efficiency. GPUs are literally 154x less efficient on this algorithm.

Even if electricity were free, the probability math makes GPU solo mining Blake2b completely pointless. You’re better off mining a GPU-friendly algorithm like Ethereum Classic or Ergo. See Ethereum Classic solo mining for GPU-viable alternatives.

There’s one exception: FPGAs. If you’re into FPGA programming, Blake2b-Sia can run efficiently on certain FPGA boards. But development effort is significant, and even optimized FPGAs don’t compete with modern ASICs on this algorithm. For FPGA solo mining strategies, see the FPGA programming guide.

Tax Implications and Record Keeping for Dual-Coin Block Rewards

Finding a block creates taxable income in most jurisdictions. When you find a Siacoin block worth 300,000 SC, that’s income valued at the SC price at the moment the block was mined. Same for Handshake.

Keep detailed records:

• Date and time of each block found
• Coin price in your local currency at that exact time
• Block height and transaction ID
• Wallet address that received the reward

This matters because you might find a block when SC is worth $0.005, then sell six months later when it’s worth $0.008. The initial $0.005 value is income. The gain from $0.005 to $0.008 is capital gains (separate tax treatment).

I track everything in a spreadsheet. Each row: Date, Coin, Block Height, Reward Amount, Price at Time, USD Value, Notes. Takes two minutes to update when I find a block. Saves massive headache at tax time.

For long-term reward storage and security, see cold storage strategies — moving large block rewards to cold wallets reduces the risk of online wallet compromise.

Troubleshooting Common Dual-Mining Issues

Issue: ASIC shows “Active” on Siacoin but “Dead” on Handshake

Usually means your hsd stratum isn’t running or isn’t accepting connections. SSH into your node and check: ps aux | grep hsd. If hsd isn’t running, restart it with the stratum flags mentioned earlier. If it is running, verify the port is open: netstat -an | grep 3008.

Issue: High stale share rate (>3%)

Network latency or your node can’t keep up with work generation. Check top on your node machine — if CPU is maxed out, upgrade hardware. If CPU is fine, check network path to ASIC. Ping your ASIC from the node: ping YOUR_ASIC_IP. Latency should be under 5ms on a local network.

Issue: Found a block but didn’t receive rewards

First, verify the block was actually accepted by the network. Check a block explorer — search for your block height. If it’s there and shows your address, rewards are in your wallet (they take 100 confirmations to mature). If the block isn’t in the explorer, it was probably orphaned — another miner found the same block slightly faster, and the network accepted theirs instead of yours.

Orphan blocks are frustrating but unavoidable. On Siacoin, orphan rate is about 0.5% (roughly 1 in 200 blocks). On Handshake, slightly lower. Over months of mining, you’ll probably experience at least one orphan if you find enough blocks. Network congestion and your node’s propagation speed affect orphan probability somewhat. See network congestion effects for detailed analysis.

Issue: Wallet shows balance but I can’t spend it

Block rewards require 100 confirmations before they mature (both SC and HNS use this rule). Each confirmation is one new block on the network. At 10-minute block times, that’s roughly 16-17 hours until you can spend. This is a network rule, not a bug. Wait for maturity.

Should You Solo Mine Siacoin and Handshake in 2026?

Honest assessment: It depends heavily on your electricity cost and risk tolerance.

If your electricity is under $0.10/kWh, the math works out positively in most scenarios. You’ll eventually find blocks, and the dual-coin approach means you’re not entirely dependent on Siacoin price movements. Handshake adds a cushion.

If your electricity exceeds $0.15/kWh, the margin gets thin. A dry spell of two weeks without finding blocks (statistically possible, probability roughly 8%) means you’re $130+ in the hole before any revenue. Can you tolerate that variance?

Compare this to pool mining: You’d earn steady daily income, probably 0.015-0.02 SC per TH/s per day (varies with network difficulty). No excitement, but also no risk of bad luck streaks. Pool fees eat 1% of that, so 0.99x your theoretical earnings.

Solo mining gives you 1.0x theoretical earnings (no pool fees), but with huge variance. Some months you’ll 3x the pool earnings. Other months you’ll earn zero. Over very long periods (years), it averages out to slightly better than pools due to the fee savings.

I prefer solo mining because I find the probabilistic nature more interesting than watching a slowly incrementing pool balance. That’s personal preference, not financial advice. If you need predictable income to cover electricity costs, pools make more sense.

For younger miners interested in the mathematical and experimental aspects, see teenage solo mining experiences — several people around our age share their block-finding stories and learning experiences.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long until I find my first Siacoin or Handshake block solo mining?

With a 3.6 TH/s ASIC, statistical expectation is one Siacoin block every 19-20 hours and one Handshake block every 10-11 hours at current network difficulties. But solo mining is probabilistic — you might find your first block within an hour, or you might wait a week. The math gives averages, not guarantees. Over months, your actual results will converge toward the statistical expectation, but short-term variance is high. Track your results honestly and don’t let early bad luck discourage you.

Can I solo mine Siacoin and Handshake from different locations with one ASIC?

Technically yes, but it adds complexity. You’d need to run your full nodes on a server with a public IP address, configure port forwarding and firewall rules carefully, and accept increased latency (which raises stale share rates). Most solo miners run nodes and ASICs on the same local network. If you need remote mining, consider setting up a VPN between locations so the ASIC can connect to your nodes as if they were local. Network latency is your enemy in solo mining — every additional millisecond of delay increases the chance your found block becomes stale before propagating.

What happens if my ASIC finds a block while my node is temporarily offline?

You lose that block. Solo mining requires your node to be online continuously. If your ASIC finds valid work but can’t submit it because the node is down, that work is wasted — someone else will find the next valid block seconds later. This is why node reliability matters enormously. I run both my Sia and Handshake nodes on a system with UPS backup and automatic restart scripts. Downtime directly costs you potential block rewards. Even 1% downtime means you’ll miss roughly 1% of the blocks you would have otherwise found statistically.

Is dual-mining Blake2b more profitable than solo mining Bitcoin?

Different math entirely. Bitcoin network difficulty means you need multiple PH/s to have reasonable block-finding odds — see 280 TH/s Bitcoin solo mining for scale comparison. Blake2b miners have much better odds with much lower hashrate because SC and HNS networks are smaller. But Bitcoin block rewards are worth far more (6.25 BTC vs 300,000 SC). It’s not about “which is more profitable” — it’s about which risk/reward profile fits your budget and psychology. Bitcoin solo mining is mega-lottery odds. Siacoin/HNS is still lottery, but smaller-scale, faster-result lottery.

Do I need to run separate wallets for Siacoin and Handshake rewards?

Yes, absolutely. Siacoin and Handshake are completely different blockchains with incompatible address formats. You cannot receive SC in an HNS wallet or vice versa. Set up a separate wallet for each coin as described in the node setup steps. Many miners use hardware wallets (Ledger supports both SC and HNS) for long-term storage after block rewards mature. Never mix wallet addresses between coins — if you configure your ASIC with an HNS address in the SC pool slot, you’ll simply never receive any Siacoin block rewards you find.