Intel may be developing a chip just for Bitcoin mining

Some people don’t like the idea of people mining Bitcoin, but it looks like Intel might get in on the action by making a chip for that.

Based on the most recent speculation, an Intel “Bonanza Mine” microprocessor may soon be unveiled. Only crypto miners would benefit from the powerful chip’s performance.

Typically, graphics cards are linked to bitcoin mining. GPUs have been hard to come by recently because many people are mining Ethereum, and the cards sell out before anyone else can get their hands on them. According to reports, Intel is working on a unique mining chip called Bonanza Mine.

There are rumours that claim Intel may show off the new chip at an event called International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) in February. An important part of the conference is to talk about solid-state circuits and systems on a chip (SoCs). To show off the new Bonanza Mine processor, Intel is going to give a presentation in the category of “Highlighted Chip Releases.”

According to Intel’s description, the ASIC is an “ultra-low-voltage, energy-efficient Bitcoin (BTC) mining application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC).” Bitmain makes similar ASICs, and it’s possible that the company is aiming to compete with them in the Bitcoin mining market.

If you think graphics cards are bad, you’re wrong. Most of the time, Bitcoin is mined on ASICs: chips that only do one thing. In fact, Bitmain and other companies have shown that ASICs can provide the power needed for mining at a lower price. Notably, the ASICs in issue are more efficient and use less power, resulting in cheaper costs. 

The fact that Intel is interested in Bitcoin mining is nothing new. In 2018, the company filed a patent for an SHA-256-optimised ASIC that could be used to mine Bitcoin. The chip may have been in development for a long time, but Intel hasn’t said anything about it since then. The company may be getting ready to show off the chip.

If you buy an Intel computer soon, you will be able to buy its new discrete Arc Alchemist gaming GPUs. They won’t ban mining on these GPUs, but they’d rather they went to gamers than miners. If Intel thinks that Bitcoin mining is a good idea, they might even make hardware for it.

ASICs made by Intel may be better than those made by Bitmain. While it’s not clear if Bonanza Mine is being made into a product that will be sold to customers or not, Intel has the connections to make it more efficient (and maybe cheaper) to make. A profitable chip could be made with this chip if Intel’s plans for high efficiency and low power work out as planned. This could be a profitable chip in a previously unknown market.