Intel Takes on Bitmain with Bonanza Bitcoin Mining Chip

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• Intel has revealed details of its new Bonanza Mine Bitcoin mining chip
• The computing giant unveiled the details at the ISSCC conference yesterday
• The chip can achieve 40 Th/s and has already been ordered by Block and Argo Blockchain

Intel has revealed details of its new Bonanza Bitcoin mining chip in a move that pitches it against Bitmain in the battle of the next-generation mining technologies. Intel presented the Bonanza Mine ASIC chip during the International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC), where it also revealed a fully optimized mining setup. Intel’s new chip, which already has orders from large Bitcoin mining operations, will now go head-to-head with Bitmain, which recently revealed its own new liquid-cooled ASIC chips.

Bonanza Mine Chip Can Reach 40 Th/s

Intel announced its plans to unveil a new Bitcoin mining chip at ISSCC earlier this month, although its claims that the Bonanza Mine chip offered “1,000x better performance” caused confusion when Intel compared it to mining a SHA-256 algorithm on a GPU, which is almost impossible (or at least wildly unprofitable) these days.

The company stuck to this claim when unveiling the chip, adding that the Bonanza Mine (BMZ2) is an ultra-low-voltage energy-efficient Bitcoin mining ASIC that can deliver 40 terahashes per second (TH/s). This figure is achievable only with a specific setup using other hardware from Intel, including their purpose-built control module, fans, and power unit.

Intel Still Lagging Behind Bitmain

A 300-strong setup will result in a 3,600-watt mining rig producing 40 TH/s, which is a far cry from Bitmain’s 5,445-watt liquid-cooled miner which theoretically delivers 198 TH/s claimed by and is out this summer, but Intel argue that its BMZ1 chips are the cleanest and most powerful on the market.

Intel filed a patent for its high-performance Bitcoin mining chips back in late 2018, and with Block (formerly known as Square) and Argo Blockchain already pre-ordering the new chips, it seems that the wait has been worth it for Intel.