coinculture.com
According to reports, Intel may be planning to unveil a Bitcoin ASIC at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference.
Intel to enter the ASICs race?
When Bitcoin mining makes headlines it’s most of the time for one of the following reasons:
- A country plans to regulate or outlaw Bitcoin mining.
- The mining hashrate has set a new record.
- Some explainer about the intricacies of Bitcoin mining.
However, a very seldom talked-about feature of mining is its hardware and who manufactures it. Similar to the semiconductors industry, Bitcoin mining components have become a massive business that draws little media attention to itself.
Intel, one of the world’s largest chip manufacturers may be about to change that. According to a post on Tom’s Hardware, the chip giant filed for a patent related to an optimised SHA-256 datapath in 2018. That suggests that Intel is focusing on a Bitcoin ASIC, the kind of specialised hardware needed to mine the cryptocurrency. In fact, Intel may already be working on it. In a YouTube interview with its Graphic Architect Raja Koduri at the end of 2021, information surfaced that suggests as much. Back then, Koduri said that more efficient blockchain validation at much lower cost was a pretty solvable problem for the company and that “hopefully not too far into the future” Intel would “share some interesting hardware for that.”
What does this mean for the ASICs industry?
Currently, MicroBT and Bitmain are the two main manufacturers that satisfy almost all of the demand for mining components. A possible unveiling of Intel’s competing hardware in late February would be a surprise and could significantly alter the dynamics of the mining industry.
With decades of experience in producing computer chips, Intel would be the kind of formidable competitor needed to lead to better equipment and more favourable pricing on the market. That would be a boon for smaller miners and result in more distributed hashrate ownership. Additionally, Intel possesses foundries in the United States, and production of mining equipment in the US would help remedy the centralised production of Bitcoin mining chips.
It would also be a strong political signal. With an American company comfortable enough to enter the mining chip race, Bitcoin would receive a boost in reputation, and other companies may feel buoyed to enter the crypto industry as well. Especially given the political headwind Bitcoin faces, having backup from an established company like Intel would be a sign of endorsement that may prompt some politicians to reconsider their anti-crypto stance.
However, much of that is speculation for now. Although the US is surely keeping an eye on the influx of Bitcoin miners into the country – several states have passed mining-friendly regulation to actively draw in miners – the federal government has thus far been quiet on mining and has focused more on Bitcoin’s financial repercussions. Miners would do well trying to woo in Intel and gain a powerful political ally and reliable domestic chip supplier for the future.