After announcing production of bitcoin application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), Intel, the world’s largest semiconductor chipmaker by revenue, appears to be abandoning its production of blockchain chips. On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the chipmaker explained that Intel has “end of life the Intel Blockscale 1000 Series ASIC.”
Intel spokesperson reveals that the company has reached the end of life of the Blockscale 1000 series ASIC
In February 2022, California-based technology company Intel made headlines when it announced its plan to create “energy-efficiency accelerators,” or ASIC technology, to aid the development of blockchain technologies. Later that month, at the 2022 International Solid State Circuits Conference (ISSCC), the company introduced the Bonanza Mine BMZ1. At the time, Tom’s Hardware author Paul Alcorn fixed that Intel was also developing a second iteration of the Bonanza Mine ASIC, known as the BMZ2.
Additionally, in March 2022, it was reported that mining companies such as Hive, Argo, Block, and Grrid were buying bitcoin mining chips from Intel. On Tuesday, Tom’s Hardware reporter Alcorn spoke to intel about the project, and it appears that Intel is discontinuing its production of bitcoin accelerators, also known as “Blockscale chips.” Alcorn further notes that “no future generations have been announced.” An Intel spokesperson stated:
As we prioritize our investments in IDM 2.0, we have reached the end of life of the Intel Blockscale 1000 Series ASIC as we continue to support our Blockscale customers.
Additionally, Alcorn’s report notes that “Blockscale ASIC’s home pages are now all inactive” and product pages have been “deleted.” Intel also told the reporter that customers have until October 2023 to order chips, but “shipments will end in April 2024.” Until now, the dominant force in the ASIC manufacturing industry has been Bitmain, with few competitors. In addition to Bitmain, companies like Microbt, Canaan, and Innosilicon are also operating in this space. Bitmain reportedly uses 5nm TSMC-made chips, while Microbt uses Samsung 5nm ASIC technology. Also, Samsung is reportedly in the process of creating 3nm ASIC chips.
What do you think this move means for the future of ASIC manufacturing? Do you see any ASIC manufacturing competitor coming to the industry? Share your thoughts on this topic in the comments section below.
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