Crypto mining: Intel announces new chip 1,000 times more efficient

Intel has developed a brand-new chip especially for crypto mining and blockchain that is supposed to work 1,000 times more efficiently than conventional graphics cards and is therefore particularly energy-efficient. With this, one wants to put a stop to the often criticized, high energy consumption of Bitcoin and Co.

Efficient crypto-mining chip from Intel

Crypto-mining, i.e. the “mining” of units of a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin and Co, is enormously energy-intensive and involves a great deal of computing for computers. Bitcoin and the like are often criticized for their high energy consumption.

Intel now wants to counteract this with a new, particularly efficient crypto-mining chip and make the process more efficient, which Raja M. Koduri, Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Accelerated Computing Systems and Graphics Group calls an “energy-efficient blockchain accelerator”.

Compared to normal graphics cards, the chip is said to enable 1,000 times better performance per watt. This applies to the SHA-256 crypto mining domain. Intel plans to announce more details about the new chip at the International Solid State Circuit Conference (ISSCC), which will be held from February 20-24, 2022.

Intel plans blockchain acceleration

The new chip marks the launch of the company’s “energy-efficient accelerator for the development of blockchain technologies” roadmap, which it has now unveiled. At the same time, the company said it wants to advocate for an open and secure blockchain ecosystem and help advance this technology in a responsible and sustainable way.

Additionally, the company said it has established a Custom Compute Group within Intel’s Accelerated Computing Systems and Graphics division to further advance research of the chip and future innovative technologies.

Intel’s efficient crypto-mining chip is expected to be released later in 2022. First customers have already been found with Argo Blockchain, Block (formerly Square) and GRIID Infrastructure.