Intel to announce asic for bitcoin mining during ISSCC
Intel plans to announce an asic at the ISSCC conference specifically aimed at mining bitcoin. Found in the conference agenda is a presentation from Intel titled “Bonanza Mine” and a reference to a bitcoin mining asic.
The presentation was discovered by Tom’s Hardware and will take place at the end of February. Intel will probably tell you more about the new asic there. At the moment, the manufacturer has not yet responded to the rumor. The presentation is scheduled for February 23 and will also include a video demo of the chip, according to Tom’s Hardware.
Intel describes the chip as an ‘ultra-low-voltage energy-efficient bitcoin mining asic’. Presumably, the manufacturer wants to compete with other asics with this chip that are specifically aimed at mining bitcoin.
GPUs are widely used for crypto mining, which Intel will soon be introducing. Intel has previously indicated that it would rather not see its GPUs used for cryptomines. This asic seems to be Intel’s answer to the demand for efficient mining chips.
Intel would not be the first company to come up with an asic specifically for mining. The Chinese manufacturer Bitmain has had asics specifically for mining bitcoin for some time now. In addition, Samsung has also announced that it is working on an asic for mining.