Menu

Search

  |   Business

Menu

  |   Business

Search

Cryptocurrency: Intel terminates its Bitcoin mining chip series just a year after its launch

Photo by: Intel Corp. Press Center

Intel Corp. disclosed earlier this week that it has ended its Bitcoin mining chip series. It will no longer produce the Blockscale chips that were launched just a year ago.

Intel Corp. made the decision after a series of economic-related disasters badly hurt the crypto market. Many chip companies, even other major ones such as Nvidia Corp., were affected as well.

According to Reuters, Intel will no longer accept orders for Blockscale starting Oct. 20. It will also completely stop all the shipment of orders by April 20, 2024, and this was shared by the company through its official website.

Intel's spokesman confirmed the news via a statement that says, "As we prioritize our investments in IDM 2.0, we have end-of-life the Intel Blockscale 1000 Series ASIC while we continue to support our Blockscale customers."

With the term IDM 2.0, the chipmaker is referring to its strategy of outsourcing its chipmaking to outside customers while it continues to build up its own production of smaller but faster semiconductors.

CoinDesk mentioned that Intel first embarked into bitcoin mining last year and has been producing Blockscale since then. Its first customers for the said chips were crypto miners - Hive Blockchain, Argo Blockchain, and Griid Infrastructure LLC.

The publication reported that among the three, only Hive Blockchain confirmed the installation of mining rigs that were powered by Intel's chips. In any case, ePIC Blockchain, which is a partner of Argo Blockchain, is said to be promoting its own Bitcoin mining machines that use the semiconductors produced by Intel.

Meanwhile, the Santa Clara, California-headquartered semiconductor company said that it might be discontinuing its Bitcoin mining chip series, but it does not mean it is giving up the crypto market altogether. Intel clarified it is not completely turning away from this business, and in fact, it will continue to monitor market opportunities.

  • Market Data
Close

Welcome to EconoTimes

Sign up for daily updates for the most important
stories unfolding in the global economy.