Intel Corp on Friday announced the launch of an energy-efficient super-fast processing chip for blockchain applications. Billed to be 1000x faster than its nearest rivals, Intel’s “blockchain accelerator” will be available to its customers later this year.
Intel’s foray into blockchain processing chip making
The official release by Raja M. Koduri, Senior Vice President, General Manager, Accelerated Computing System, and Graphics Group, elaborates on the launch of Intel bitcoin accelerator.
“Today, we at Intel are declaring our intent to contribute to the development of blockchain technologies, with a roadmap of energy-efficient accelerators. Intel will engage and promote an open and secure blockchain ecosystem and will help advance this technology in a responsible and sustainable way,” said Raja in his piece published on Intel Newsroom.
Last month, Intel, the world’s second-largest semiconductor chip maker after TSMC, had scheduled a presentation under “Highlighted Chip Releases” at the ISSCC conference.
It had presented its upcoming chip for the blockchain industry as a “Bonanza Mine” processor and described it as “ultra-low-voltage energy-efficient Bitcoin mining ASIC.”
Jack Dorsey’s Block Among the First Clients
Among the major clients that have evinced interest in the new processor chip is the Jack Dorsey-led Block Inc (formerly Square).
“Argo Blockchain, BLOCK (formerly known as Square), and GRIID Infrastructure are among our first customers for this upcoming product. This architecture is implemented on a tiny piece of silicon so that it has minimal impact to the supply of current products,” Raja informed.
Increased Bitcoin Decentralization?
The new Intel chip should be available for shipping later in 2021, and it promises to make BTC mining quicker and more energyefficient.
“We expect that our circuit innovations will deliver a blockchain accelerator that has over 1000x better performance per watt than mainstream GPUs for SHA-256 based mining,” Raja said.
Intel’s foray into the blockchain industry as a provider of quick processing capacity could attract more players into the field of mining.
Jack Dorsey’s Block has confirmed that it is working to bring on stream a new bitcoin mining system intended for at-home use.
Intel’s entry into the blockchain industry as a speed and scalability solution provider will, however, face competition from MicroBT, a well-known provider of Bitcoin mining hardware products, and Bitmain.
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