In addition to its support for 256 integrated circuits per chain, the chip is said to include “on-chip temperature- and voltage-sensing capabilities.”
Semiconductor manufacturing titan Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) has officially launched its new second-generation Bitcoin mining chip “Intel Blockscale ASIC”. Blockscale is said to have a 580 GH/s (gigahashes per second) hash rate, with a power consumption of between 4.8 to 22.7 watts. Also, its energy efficiency is said to be up to 26 joules per terahash (J/TH). In comparison, one of the leading Bitcoin mining machines, Bitmain’s Antminer S19 Pro has a hash rate of 110 TH/s, with a power consumption of 3,250 watts and an energy efficiency of 30 J/TH. MicroBT’s Whatsminer M30S++’s also has a hash rate of 112 TH/s and energy efficiency of 31 J/TH.
For some time now, the industry has been affected by environmental, social, and government concerns about energy consumption. This is much evident in the recent campaigns to get Bitcoin banned entirely for its high energy consumption. About this, Blockscale was built with much focus on energy sustainability.
“To power this new era of computing, Intel is delivering solutions that can offer an optimal balance of hashing throughput and energy efficiency regardless of a customer’s operating environment,” said Balaji Kanigicherla, Vice President AXG, General Manager, and Chief SoC Architect – Graphics & Throughput Computing Hardware Engg of Intel Corporation.
As it stands, Argo Blockchain (LON: ARB), Block Inc (NYSE: SQ), Hive Blockchain Technologies (CVE: HIVE), and GRIID Infrastructure will be the first mining companies to obtain these upcoming chips. Intel has also stated that it will start shipping in the third quarter of 2022. In 2023 and beyond, the company hints that it would be working with and supplying customers whose objectives are in line with their sustainability goals.
“We are proud to collaborate with and provide solutions to companies that are creating a more sustainable cryptocurrency ecosystem globally. The Intel Blockscale ASIC will play a major role in helping Bitcoin mining companies achieve both sustainability and hash rate scaling objectives in the years ahead,” said Jose Rios, general manager of blockchain and business solutions in the accelerated computing systems and graphics group at Intel.
It is worth noting that the current global chip shortage has affected the Bitcoin mining industry’s ASIC supply. Its recent development will add value to the industry through the increase in miners’ availability in the short to medium term.
In addition to its support for 256 integrated circuits per chain, the chip is said to include “on-chip temperature- and voltage-sensing capabilities.” Without compromising the supply of new CPUs and GPUs, Intel claims it can be supplied in volume as a result of the nature of silicon being used. It is worth noting that Block has also planned on creating its energy-efficient mining system.
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