Bitcoin and cryptocurrency mining in general can be an extremely lucrative business. A reality well understood by companies specializing in the production of computer hardware. Thus, the processor giant, Intel, has announced the imminent launch of an ASIC mining machine.
Mining: a new Asic in town
Alongside the crypto-currency bull run, many investors have decided to get into mining. As a result, this renewed craze for mining has led to significant shortages, especially in graphics cards.
For their part, hardware manufacturers have understood the economic opportunities related to this ecosystem. Thus, more and more tech giants are starting to offer specialized hardware for mining.
On Monday 21 February, the company known worldwide for its processors, Intel, announced that it was entering the mining business. Indeed, at the IEEE 2021 International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC), Intel announced the imminent launch of a mining machine called BonanzaMine System.
In practice, this machine is specialized for the SHA-256 algorithm, notably used by Bitcoin. Under the hood, it is composed of 1,000 BonanzaMine Asic chips.
This technology was announced by Intel last January. This one follows the creation of a patent regarding “high-performance Bitcoin mining” filed in 2018 by the company.
Unfortunately, the company has not yet announced a commercialization date for this new product.
Bonanzamine system, a serious competitor?
A question lies: how does this new machine compare with the competition?
Thus, Intel presented its machine as 15% less energy consuming than the competition. Indeed, this one delivers a power of approximately 47 TH/S for a consumption of 3,6 kW/h. This represents 55 joules per terahash.
For comparison, the Bitfury Clarke produces 40 TH/s for a consumption of 56 J/TH. The Canaan Avalon A9 produces 30 TH/s for a consumption of 58 J/TH.
Without going into the cliché of mining power consumption again, Intel could well make the market evolve positively by offering machines focused on energy efficiency.
At the same time, new debates around mining are emerging, in contrast to the classic fiery discourse of its detractors. For some players in the ecosystem, Bitcoin mining could well prove to be an essential component of the ecological transition.
