In February, Intel, which unveiled its first Bitcoin-mining chip, offered customers devices with efficiency about 15% higher than market leaders. Tom’s Hardware reports.
Intel unveiled the Bonanza Mine chip and a prototype miner based on it at the ISSCC international conference. A company spokesperson said the equipment delivers an energy efficiency of 55 J/TH at a hash rate of 47.7 TH/s. The performance is comparable to devices from Bitfury and Canaan, but significantly lags behind flagship models from MicroBT and Bitmain.
Shortly before the event, the company named among the first customers Block equipment (formerly Square) of Jack Dorsey, mining firms Argo Blockchain and GRIID Infrastructure.
In the prospectus filed ahead of the going public with the SEC, journalists found information about a future delivery of miners with much higher specifications than those announced at the presentation.
In the publication, they suggested that this referred to equipment based on the second-generation Bonanza Mine chip (BMZ2) from Intel. The company is not explicitly named as the supplier, but it is said to be “a leading chipmaker in the US.” Intel is the only chipmaker in the country, the publication notes.
On the slide, the miner delivers a hash rate of 135 TH/s and energy efficiency of 26 J/TH. For comparison, the Antminer S19 Pro from Bitmain is 110 TH/s and 30 J/TH respectively. This means BMZ2 is about 15% more efficient, and the prototype nearly twice as efficient.
The price of the new miner is quoted by GRIID at $5,625, about half the price of the S19 Pro — $10,455.
Tom’s Hardware noted that the lower device price for the American firm is explained by reduced logistics costs, a shorter supply chain, and the absence of import duties. How the technological edge was achieved remains unclear.
In January, Intel announced a preview of a ‘low-voltage high-efficiency ASIC miner’ at ISSCC.
On the eve of the event, CEO Pat Gelsinger criticised Bitcoin mining for its negative impact on the environment.