Thursday, January 20th 2022
Intel "Bonanza Mine" Bitcoin ASIC Secures First Big Customer, a $3.3 Billion Crypto-Mining Startup
Just a few days ago, we reported that Intel is preparing to unveil the company's first application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) dedicated to mining cryptocurrency. To be more specific, Intel plans to show off its "Bonanza Mine" ASIC at the 2022 ISSCC Conference, describing the chip as "ultra low-voltage energy-efficient Bitcoin mining ASIC." We have yet to see how this competes with other industry-made ASICs like the ones from Bitmain. However, it seems like the startup company GRIID, valued at around $3.3 billion, thinks that the Bonanza Mine ASIC is the right choice and has entered a definitive supply agreement with Intel.
According to the S-4 filing, GRIID has "entered into a definitive supply contract with Intel to provide ASICs that we expect to fuel our growth. The initial order will supply units to be delivered in 2022 and GRIID will have access to a significant share of Intel's future production volumes." There are a few other mentions of Intel in the document, and you can see another exciting tidbit below.
Source:
Tom's Hardware
According to the S-4 filing, GRIID has "entered into a definitive supply contract with Intel to provide ASICs that we expect to fuel our growth. The initial order will supply units to be delivered in 2022 and GRIID will have access to a significant share of Intel's future production volumes." There are a few other mentions of Intel in the document, and you can see another exciting tidbit below.
GRIID S-4 FilingOn September 8, 2021, GRIID entered to a supply agreement (the "Intel Supply Agreement") pursuant to which GRIID may purchase Intel-designed BZM2 ASICs. The Intel Supply Agreement is for an initial four-year term and will automatically renew thereafter for one period unless either party provides at least 90 days' notice prior to the end of the initial four-year term. The Intel Supply Agreement provides GRIID with fixed pricing for the BZM2 ASICs for all orders placed prior to May 2023. In addition, subject to certain conditions, GRIID will be entitled to purchase from Intel at least 25% of all qualified Intel-designed ASICs through approximately May 2025.
66 Comments on Intel "Bonanza Mine" Bitcoin ASIC Secures First Big Customer, a $3.3 Billion Crypto-Mining Startup
It would all be solved by banning crypto currency, or we can use dies to make one time use products that have a very finite lifecycle, waste energy at every step of their limited lifecycle, consume RAM chips that could be put to better use, and will be Ewaste in 24 months or less just so a few people can proclaim the imagined superior use of a virtual idea that has no real world value just like real cash.
I would like to say I could believe you about it, but Crypto is a useless product driven by nothing more than human greed and that greed will only serve one master, and that is profits.
It's in the name "Bonanza mine"
And also I would assume a mining company would have a known power budget and space and work within that, scaling up with a smile.
That's the issue, there's a middle ground here but crypto is almost as divided as politics. Either you love it or you think crypto should be banned.
However things like solar roadways, hyperloop, sun city solar are proof that enough people with good intentions but terrible technical understanding of a subject means people will be screwed.
In this case we the hardware enthusiasts, gamers are being screwed by high hardware costs. The barrier to entry for hardware is being artificially inflated. For a product that isn't needed.
All that aside the power use to date is horrible, and what happens when a new crypto is "invented" beyond more power for projects that take a either ever increasing difficulty and thus hardware requirement or have flaws (plot mining to ruin mass storage and increase its cost as well).
If we can get government to see the potential benefits of blockchain and set regulations that will foster fairness and stability then all of this can work. If not, it's doomed to fall apart and get banned.
I may or may not be subtly mocking Linus who did something sort of like that, and then played bloody minecraft on it.