Intel announces the launch of a new bitcoin mining chip
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Intel has announced the launch of a second generation of its proprietary ASIC chip for bitcoin mining called Blockscale.
Based on years of research and development, this dedicated integrated circuit will provide customers with energy-efficient hashing for Proof-of-Work consensus networks, it said in a statement.
Blockscale will provide a hash rate of up to 0.58 TH/s, with energy efficiency of around 26 J/TH. Two hundred fifty-six chips (~148.5 TH/s) can be combined in a single chain.
The company said that the nature of the semiconductors used in the technology will enable mass production of Blockscale without jeopardizing the supply of new CPUs or GPUs.
The chip is scheduled to be available to customers from the third quarter of 2022. Intel named Argo Blockchain, Block, Hive Blockchain Technologies and GRIID Infrastructure among the first customers.
In February, Intel unveiled its first mining chip, Bonanza Mine, and a device based on it. The 300-chip ASIC miner delivered a hash rate of up to 47.7 TH/s and an energy efficiency of 55 J/TH. The performance was well below the market's flagships.
GRIID was named as one of the first customers of the chip. However, in its pre-listing prospectus filed with the SEC, journalists found information about future deliveries of ASIC miners with higher specifications.
It was talking about the proposed purchase of devices with a processing power of 135 TH/s and an energy efficiency of 26 J/TH. Regarding the latter, the air-cooled unit was found to be 15% more efficient than one of the segment leaders, Bitmain's Antminer S19 Pro.
GRIID did not explicitly identify the vendor, calling it a “leading integrated circuit manufacturer from the US”. Intel, meanwhile, is the only chipmaker in the country.
In March, HIVE Blockchain announced an agreement with Intel to purchase mining equipment, with expected delivery in the second half of 2022.