Jack Dorsey’s Block Develops Bitcoin Mining Chip

Jack Dorsey’s payment company, Block, has completed the development of a 3-nm chip for mining the leading cryptocurrency.

we’re building a mining rig https://t.co/IKOQHNSHgO

— jack (@jack) April 23, 2024

In May 2023, the firm announced the creation of a prototype ASIC for bitcoin mining based on a 5-nm process.

According to the statement, in the autumn, Block received the corresponding silicon wafers from its manufacturing partner.

“These samples met our design goals and provided valuable insights, confirming the chosen architecture and approach. Since then, we have been working on a 3-nm design,” the team clarified.

The company is now moving forward with creating a full-fledged bitcoin mining system based on its proprietary chip.

In 2021, Dorsey revealed that Block (then Square) was considering developing an open-source device for mining the leading cryptocurrency.

The team noted that as the program progressed, they spent “a significant amount of time” engaging with miners to identify the technical challenges they face.

“Based on this information and in line with our goal of supporting mining decentralization, we plan to offer both a standalone mining chip and a complete system of our own design,” the developers emphasized.

The devices will be manufactured by an unnamed “well-capitalized mining equipment supplier,” according to the statement.

During the program to create an ASIC for bitcoin mining, Block purchased mining chips from Intel.

In February 2022, the tech giant introduced its first mining integrated circuit, Bonanza Mine, and a rig based on it.

Just two months later, the corporation announced the launch of the second-generation chip called Blockscale. Among the customers, besides Block, were Argo Blockchain, Hive Blockchain Technologies, and GRIID Infrastructure.

Product deliveries to select clients began in July. However, by April 2023, Intel announced the discontinuation of Blockscale.

In March 2024, the company founded by Jihan Wu, Bitdeer, tested a bitcoin mining chip, SEAL01, using 4-nm technology.