The leading desktop chip manufacturer Intel is looking to unveil a new type of ASIC at the upcoming International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) during the demonstration session scheduled for February 23, titled “Bonanza Mine: An Ultra-Low-Voltage Energy-Efficient Bitcoin Mining ASIC.”
Key takeaways:
- ISSCC is an annually held international forum where companies and hardware engineers can present advancements made in solid-state circuits and “Systems-on-a-Chip.” This year’s ISSCC will be held in downtown San Francisco and will last from Feb. 20 to Feb. 24.
- According to Tom’s Hardware report, Intel’s demonstration session will likely include a video presentation of the new processor codenamed “Bonanza Mine.” It is not yet known how far along is the new ASIC in terms of development and whether will we see a consumer-grade product or an early prototype at the ISSCC.
- While Ethereum and the majority of other digital currencies can be profitably mined with regular desktop GPUs and CPUs, Bitcoin requires far more computing power and specialized ASICs (Application-specific integrated circuits) to meet the demands of the power-hungry Proof-of-Work (PoW) network.
- Intel’s foray into the BTC mining market will likely make the space, currently dominated by companies such as Bitmain and MicroBT, far more competitive.
- The North American region has become the leading BTC mining hub after Chinese authorities effectively shut down the cryptocurrency mining industry within the country last year. In early January, Marathon announced it is expanding its BTC mining operation with the acquisition of $900 million worth of Bitmain’s mining equipment, which is one of the biggest deals of its kind to date.
