{"id":488321,"date":"2023-04-19T17:27:30","date_gmt":"2023-04-19T15:27:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=488321"},"modified":"2023-04-19T17:33:40","modified_gmt":"2023-04-19T15:33:40","slug":"intel-scraps-bitcoin-mining-chip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/hardware\/488321-intel-scraps-bitcoin-mining-chip.html","title":{"rendered":"Intel scraps Bitcoin mining chip"},"content":{"rendered":"

Intel has discontinued a chip designed for efficient Bitcoin mining, claiming the company wants to prioritize other investments.<\/span><\/p>\n

Intel is one of the largest producers of semiconductor chip manufacturers in the world by revenue.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The company told<\/a><\/strong> Tom\u2019s Hardware that the Blockscale 1000-series ASICs would no longer be manufactured just one year after the chips were released in April 2022.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAs we prioritize our investments in IDM 2.0, we have end-of-lifed the Intel Blockscale 1000 Series ASIC while we continue to support our blockscale customers,\u201d the company said.<\/span><\/p>\n

When the chip was launched, Intel said that the components would provide an energy-efficient, sustainable and efficient solution which would advance blockchain technology in a sustainable way.<\/span><\/p>\n

Intel said that new technological advancements were needed to service the enormous amount of energy that blockchain computations require.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Intel blockscale ASIC is going to play a major role in helping Bitcoin mining companies achieve both sustainability and hash rate scaling objectives in the years ahead,\u201d the company said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But just one year later, the chips are being scrapped. <\/span>Tom\u2019s Hardware <\/span>pointed out that Intel\u2019s launch timing was poor.<\/span><\/p>\n

The price of Bitcoin halved in the two months following the product\u2019s launch and is now starting to recover just as the decision to scrap the chips has been announced.<\/span><\/p>\n

Intel will continue to offer the chips to existing customers until October 2023 to satisfy its long-term contracts with large mining companies. Final deliveries will be completed before April 2024.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The company has not announced plans to launch new products and is scaling back its operations to cut costs. The company <\/span>sold its server business<\/a><\/strong>, ended its 5G modems, wound down its Optane memory production, scrapped its drone business and sold its SSD storage unit.<\/span><\/p>\n

The company said that it will be focussing on its IDM 2.0 investments.<\/span><\/p>\n

IDM stands for integrated device manufacturing and is part of a strategy Intel unveiled<\/a><\/strong> in 2021 to manufacture, design, and deliver “leadership products”.<\/p>\n

Intel announced plans to expand its manufacturing capability through substantial investment in new factories, along with plans to become a major provider of foundry capacity in the United States and Europe to serve customers globally.<\/p>\n

The strategy has three focus areas:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Intel\u2019s global, internal factory network for at-scale manufacturing<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Expanded use of third-party foundry capacity<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Building a world-class foundry business, Intel Foundry Services<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Here are the key features of the Blockscale 1000-series application-specific integrated circuits which are being discontinued:<\/span><\/p>\n