On Friday, Raja Koduri, Intel’s senior vice president and general manager of the Accelerated Computing Systems and Graphics Group at Intel Corporation, announced in a blog post that the company would launch a new chip for blockchain applications such as Bitcoin mining and minting NFTs.
They referred to the chip as an energy-efficient “accelerator” designed to speed up blockchain tasks that require vast amounts of computing power and consume a lot of energy.
Blockchain has risen in popularity over the past few years, hailed as one of the most efficient and innovative ways to store data. It is a database shared among a computer network that maintains a secure and decentralized record of transactions.
Earlier this year, the firm had declared that it would reveal the next generation of ASIC chips, which are chips designed for a specific single task at the next International Solid States Circuit Conference (ISSCC) happening at the end of this month.
Raja Koduri also said they had formed a new segment called Custom Computer Group within its Accelerated Computing Systems and Graphics business unit to contribute to their presence in the crypto space.
He stated that they would focus on an environmentally sustainable and cost-efficient objective, ensuring that consumers would not be deprived of chips.
According to the blog post, the company’s goal is to create the most energy-efficient blockchain mining equipment on the planet.
“We expect that our circuit innovations will deliver a blockchain accelerator that has over 1,000x better performance per watt than mainstream GPUs for SHA-256 based mining,”
Koduri said in the announcement. SHA-256 is an algorithm used for bitcoin mining & generation.
The company said that it would work with its customers to share the effort to produce sustainable blockchain technology. They also affirmed that its mining hardware consists of tiny pieces of silicon, so this new venture would not impact its supply of current products.
The chips are slated to ship out later this year and announced three of its first customers: Argo Blockchain, Block (formerly known as Square), and Grid Infrastructure for this upcoming product.
The firm had not shown any particular advancements or contributions into the crypto market for the past few years, usually only sticking to research divisions.
It wasn’t until they showed a presentation to outline a new “Bonanza Mine” processor, a chip described as an “ultra-low-voltage energy-efficient Bitcoin mining ASIC.” during ISSCC in August 2021 push towards entering the crypto market materialized.
Intel’s debut into the bitcoin mining space will face tough competition from existing mining companies like Bitmain and MicroBT. However, consumers say that the firm has an advantage because of its scale, predictable pricing, and supply.
Edited By- Subbuthai Padma
Published By- Satheesh Kumar
