Chip manufacturing giant Intel has revealed details on its first mining chip, aptly called “Bonanza Mine.” The new hardware was put on display at the annual International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) held in downtown San Francisco. For the time being, it seems that hardware solutions by Bitmain and MicroBT retain the edge over Intel’s offering.
Key takeaways:
- Intel’s entrance into the crypto mining sector will bid the tech giant against Bitmain and MicroBT, the current top dogs in the industry.
- According to Tom’s Hardware, which first reported on Bonanza Mine’s hardware capabilities, Intel’s first crypto mining offering trails its ASIC competitors.
- Bonanza Mine can deliver up to 40 terahash/second (TH/s) with a power consumption of 3,600 watts. For context, Bitmain’s flagship offering, Antminer S19j XP, can generate 140 TH/s, while consuming only 3,010 watts of power. MicroBT’s Whatsminer M30s++ is a bit less efficient, generating 112 TH/s at 3,472W.
- Bonanza Mine has four hash boards, each packing 75 ASICs (Application-specific integrated circuits). Intel’s new offering can operate at “ultra-low” voltage mode, which allows the circuit to run at its maximum power while not surpassing the 75° Celsius mark.
- Intel is reportedly already working on the second generation of crypto mining hardware which is slated to come later this year. Tom’s Hardware noted that there is currently no information publicly available about the upcoming second-gen ASICs, other than they are coming.
- Intel’s first gen-miner comes amidst a multi-month hashrate growth. For context, Bitcoin Network’s hashrate reached an all-time high of 248 EH/s on February 13, having grown by more than 400% since its last July bottom of 58 EH/s.
