When it comes to mining cryptos, it’s all about the hardware. Miners are constantly upgrading to the latest hardware in a bid to remain on top and battle it out for those precious block rewards. Bitfury is one of the leading Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) chip manufacturers in the world, and this new addition to its ranks will help its mining partners compete with firms using other tech providers.
Bitmain is the world’s largest manufacturer of ASIC mining chips – and mining firms – but it has recently fallen on what appears to be hard times. After a bout of poor management, top names from the firm are jumping ship and its IPO looks in danger. This news will come as a welcome surprise to the Bitfury teams and its mining partners.
Say Hello to Bitfury Clarke
Bitfury Clarke is a 14nm ASIC mining chip designed to execute the SHA-256 protocol and produce up to 120 gigahashes per second. It is one of the most power efficient ASIC chips on the market running at as low as 55 millijoules per gigahash. Bitfury Clarke will form part of Bitfury’s next generation mining hardware solutions, such as its BlockBoxes.
A Little Underwhelming
Given the power of the other miners on the market, Bitfury Clarke is a little underwhelming. Producing 120 gigahashes per second is considered to be relatively weak for a “next generation” ASIC chip. For example, the next generation Antminer S7 Hydro computes a whopping 18 terrahashes per second and is water cooled, so users will save money on cooling systems too. When it comes to profitability – at the current price of BTC – both will run at a negative cost. However, Bitfury Clarke will burn a smaller hole in your pocket due to the fact that its energy efficient and mines at a much slower rate.
Bitfury Commanding Incredible Power
When it comes to mining firms teaming up with a hardware manufacturer, Bitfury is standing out as a clear winner. Hut 8 – the largest publicly traded crypto mining firm – has chosen to partner with Bitfury and has recently installed a number of its BlockBoxes out in Medicine Hat, Canada. Bitfury’s economical prowess combined with cheap power deals have made BlockBoxes the go-to hardware for Hut 8.
When it comes to crypto mining, there are a number of factors that need to be taken into consideration. It isn’t simply all about the power of each miner, you need to take power costs, cooling, BTC price, and difficulty level into account. Morgan Stanley estimates that it costs around $8,000 to mine one BTC. While with great power deals and low-cost hardware can achieve lower costs per BTC, it is hard to do on a small scale.
