BitFury Makes Progress On Bitcoin-Enabled IoT Device Prototype

BitFury, one of the leading Bitcoin mining firms, is gradually progressing in the development of a prototype for a bitcoin-enabled Internet of Things (IoT) device. CoinDesk explains that the original prototype was announced last June and it resembled a consumer light bulb that was capable of mining bitcoin in small amounts.

"We believe that the project’s focus should not be on making money from bitcoin mining, but on creating innovative solutions with main purpose to use this product for educational purposes and fun”, CEO Valery Vavilov said at the time.

Although there have been no public announcements on the initiative, Niko Punin, BitFury head of product, told CoinDesk that there is no change in the company’s vision for the "portable mining device" and that the device has simply undergone "multiple iterations" since it was first revealed.

"We have a working prototype of a device with a working title 'MicroMiner' that has a Wi-Fi chip and a bitcoin mining chip built inside. It can be used as a starting point for any electronic IoT device that has bitcoin mining capability built in”, he said.

Punin said that the device will be open-sourced to the community when finished and added that it could be launched under a different name. He also noted that the company’s latest 16nm mining chip may be integrated into the device, and that more updates would be likely as the project moves forward.