Intel's New Bitcoin Mining Chip BLOCKSCALE Now Available

Instead of providing a complete ASIC mining system, as is typical in the market today, Intel will only provide customers with the ASIC chips themselves.

Each Blockscale ASIC device will have a hash rate of up to 580 gigahashes per second (GH/s), a power efficiency of up to 26 joules per second terahash (J/TH), support for up to 256 integrated circuits per chain, and on-chip temperature and voltage monitoring.

As a result, a mining system consisting of 256 Intel Blockscale ASIC processors is claimed to generate approximately 148 TH/s while consuming approximately 3,860 watts (W). The current global market leader Bitmainflagship's air-cooled mining system outputs 140 TH/s, consumes 3,010 W, and has a power efficiency of 21.5 J/TH.

The bitcoin mining industry is suffering from a shortage of ASIC supply due to the current global chip shortage. Arguably, Intel will provide value to the industry in the short to medium term by increasing miner availability, rather than competing head-to-head with the current market leaders and seeking to provide more energy efficient solutions. As restrictions are relaxed, the long-term competition will shift to performance and cost of ownership.