Intel is about to launch a chip dedicated to mining virtual currency

It is expected that this chip will be launched during the International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC 2022) event taking place from February 20 to 24.

Billed as "Bonanza Mine: An Ultra-Low-Voltage Energy-Efficient Bitcoin Mining ASIC", the new chip will put Intel in direct competition with the likes of Bitmain and MicroBT. Prior to that, Bitmain and MicroBT were the market leaders in Bitcoin mining application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs).

The demand for cryptocurrency mining has pushed the price of graphics cards much higher. Graphics card manufacturers, including Intel, are always in a state of being unable to meet the needs of the market. It is even one of the reasons why the chip shortage persists.

In order to meet manufacturing goals in the coming years as it transitions to 18A technology, Intel has been one of the first in the industry to order High-NA EUV tools.

Unlike its competitor NVIDIA, Intel shared that it has no plans to add an Ethereum mining cap to its recently launched ARC GPU family. Intel also discussed its plans to research and produce specialized hardware for mining purposes during a live steam session on Dr. Lupo's YouTube channel.

Hopefully, Inte with its seriousness will bring to the virtual currency mining market quality hardware.

Kareem Winters

Update 20 January 2022