Intel today announced details for its new bitcoin mining chip, the Intel Blockscale ASIC, which seeks to increase energy efficiency of Proof-of-Work (PoW) mining through the company’s decades of research and development in related areas, as per a press release sent to Bitcoin Magazine.
“The Intel Blockscale ASIC is going to 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.
Intel will provide its customers with only the ASIC chip itself, instead of delivering a complete ASIC mining system as is currently common in the industry.
Each Blockscale ASIC chip will deliver up to 580 gigahashes per second (GH/s) of hash rate with up to 26 joules per terahash (J/TH) of power efficiency and support up to 256 integrated circuits per chain, in addition to featuring on-chip temperature- and voltage-sensing capabilities.
Therefore, a mining system consisted of 256 Intel Blockscale ASIC chips would supposedly output roughly 148 TH/s and consume about 3,860 watts (W) of power. The flagship air-cooled mining system of the current global market leader, Bitmain, outputs 140 TH/s with an energy consumption of 3010 W, resulting in 21.5 J/TH of power efficiency.
The bitcoin mining industry suffers from insufficient ASIC supply due to the current global chip shortage. More than to compete head-to-head with current market leaders and seek to provide a more energy efficient offering, Intel will arguably add value to the industry in the short to medium term by increasing availability of miners. As constraints are reduced, long-term competition will then move towards performance and cost of ownership.
Intel’s shipments will also include a reference hardware design and software stack to jump-start customers’ system development. Argo Blockchain, Block, Inc., Hive Blockchain and GRIID Infrastructure are among the first mining companies to get their hands on Intel’s upcoming chip, which will begin shipping in Q3 2022. Intel said it will work with and supply prospective customers who share the company’s sustainability goals starting in 2023.
Intel made the headlines in January as it scheduled a presentation at ISSCC conference about an “ultra-low-voltage energy-efficient bitcoin mining ASIC.” The panel featured Intel’s past ASIC explorations, and in the same month the company shared that its new chip, the Blockscale ASIC, would ship this year.