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Bitcoin ( mining behemoth Bitmain has officially released two new 7nm (nanometer) âAntminerâ crypto mining machines, designed to mine with the SHA256 algorithm.
Bitcoin (BTC) mining giant Bitmain has officially released two new 7nm (nanometer) Â âAntminerâ crypto mining machines, according to an official tweet posted Nov. 5.
Bitmain indicated in September that it would be equipping its new Antminer models with next-generation Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) chips.
ASIC chips are geared to compute optimally for a specific hashing algorithm and, as Bitmainâs tweet confirms, these latest âaccelerationâ chips use an SHA256 algorithm, which is based on 7nm Finfet semiconductor manufacturing technology. Todayâs tweet from the company reads:
âWe are officially announcing the release of our new 7nm miners which possess industry-leading hash rates designed to mine with the SHA256 algorithm. Two models will be offered, the Antminer S15 and T15. Available for purchase on 11/8 [Nov. 8].â
In Bitmain CEO and co-founder Jihan Wuâs keynote lecture in September, he outlined that the new chip integrates âmore than a billion transistors,â using a special circuit structure and low power-intensive technology to optimize efficiency. Wu claimed that tests have shown the chip âcan achieve a ratio of energy consumption to the mining capacity that is as low as 42J/T.â
Bitmain has also made headlines this week by announcing it would be rolling out a firmware update for so-called âOvert AsicBoostâ to all its Antminer models, which it claims will increase mining âeffectivenessâ on the machines.
Cryptoâs mining titans have been hot on each otherâs heels to compete for the edge in advanced mining hardware; just a day ahead of Bitmain in September, Bitfury Group unveiled its own 14nm ASIC chip, dubbed Bitfury Clarke, which is customized for SHA256 Bitcoin mining. Bitfuryâs chip can reportedly âexecute a hashrate up to 120 gigahashes per second (GH/s) and a power efficiency rate as low as 55 millijoules per gigahash (mJ/GH).â
Just today, Bitfury revealed it had raised $80 million in a closed funding round led by European venture capital fund Korelya Capital. Other participants included South Korean internet giant Naver Group, Asian institutions Macquarie Capital and Dentsu Japan, as well as Michael Novogratzâs Galaxy Digital.
Yesterday, Nov. 5, just a week after reporting that crypto-mining related sales were ânegligibleâ in Q3 2018, U.S.-based semiconductor manufacturer AMD evidently partnered with seven major tech companies to produce eight new cryptocurrency mining rigs it is marketing as âblockchain compute solutions.â
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