Intel will release its first crypto-focused chip, called “blockchain accelerator,” later this year
Intel is investing in blockchain technology with a new chip designed for cryptocurrency mining. The chipmaker said on Friday that it will begin selling chips customized for mining Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies later this year. Block (formerly Square) and two mining businesses, Argo Blockchain and Griid Infrastructure, are among their first customers. Mining is a computationally intensive process for cryptocurrencies that records transactions on a globally shared database known as the blockchain. A new coin is awarded to the first miner to solve a difficult computational task.
In one blog postIntel’s Senior Vice President and General Manager Raja M Koduri said that the company’s stated “intention to contribute to the development of blockchain technology, with a roadmap of energy-saving accelerators”.
In the blog post, Koduri added that the company will “join and promote an open and secure blockchain ecosystem, and will help advance the technology in a responsible and sustainable manner.”
He added that they are aware that some blockchains require a significant amount of computing power which, unfortunately, equates to a significant amount of energy.
“Our customers are demanding scalable and sustainable solutions, which is why we are focusing our efforts on realizing the full potential of blockchain by developing technologies most energy-efficient computing at scale,” the blog post said.
Intel will release its first crypto-focused chip, called a “blockchain accelerator,” later this year.
According to Koduri, the mining ASICs will provide “1000x better performance per watt than mainstream GPUs for SHA-256-based mining.”
These chips are created on a “small piece of silicon” to minimize their impact on current product offerings. Intel also announced the creation of a custom computing group within its Graphics and Accelerated Systems business to develop silicon platforms for blockchain and other computing applications.
Based on Cambridge University Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index, cryptocurrency mining consumes large amounts of energy, at a current projected rate of 125 terawatt hours per year. Follow Energy Information Administrationmore than Norway’s electricity use by 2020.
