Recently, Intel has launched a brand new chip that can partake in bitcoin mining without any glitch. It is called Blockscale, which aims to utilize energy-efficient tech and cope with the rising demand for cryptocurrency mining. The chip will be marketed later this year. Argo Blockchain, Block Inc., Hive Blockchain Technologies, and GRIID Infrastructure are already in line as the first batch of customers for the product.
New generation ASICs
Intel’s Blockscale application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) chip is a breakthrough as it gives flexibility and capacity to scale without performing decentralization. Their Research and Development department built the chip. This is also where ASIC has provided hashing for the proof-of-work agreement network to make it energy efficient.
Intel’s Vice President and General Manager of Custom Compute in the Accelerated Computing Systems and Graphics Group, Balaji Kanigicherla, shared that the company is aware of the market’s continuous interest in blockchain. He further described the chip as a solution that will provide an “optimal balance of hashing throughput and energy efficiency regardless of a customer’s operating environment.”
Intel unveiled its new #Bitcoin (#BTC) mining chip, Blockscale. The hardware is designed to operate on proof-of-work blockchains using SHA-256 encryption. $BTC pic.twitter.com/Qf7bMeeU8f
— Token Metrics (@tokenmetricsinc) April 4, 2022
Jose Rios, General Manager of Blockchain and Business Solutions in the Accelerated Computing Systems and Graphics Group at Intel, also expressed their enthusiasm for the product. Rios believes that the Blockscale “is going to play a major role in helping bitcoin mining companies achieve both sustainability and hash rate scaling objectives in the years ahead.”
Top features
The chip has Secure Hash Algorithm-256 (SHA-256), which increases the working capacity of blockchain applications. The particle can be operated beyond frequency ranges. With that, system designers can maintain the balance between performance and efficiency. Blockscale ASIC’s features include the following:
- Holds a maximum of 256 integrated circuits per chain
- UART Interface with flexible baud-rate (Max 10 Mbps)
- On-chip temperature and voltage sensing capability
https://twitter.com/cazenove_uk/status/1511031209001897989
The first generation chip had a mere 14.0mm^2 in the wafer area. Hypothetically, that could be able to extract around 4,000 chips from a single silicon wafer. Meanwhile, Blockscale contained 52mm^2 per chip and an AMD Zen 3 core comprising a small 3.24mm^2. In the new generation, both the size and performance are intensified, extracting around 1,250 chips from a single wafer.
Intel said that its intention in making the Blockscale ASIC chip is to minimize the impact on electronic supply. The benefit is huge in cryptocurrency mining.
Photo credit: The feature image is owned by Intel and has been provided for press usage.
