Tech giant Intel launched its second-generation bitcoin mining chip, called “Intel Blockscale ASIC”, which is designed to be more energy-efficient than those from rival crypto mining chips. The move could help the crypto community get on the winning side of the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) concerns that have long plagued the industry. Intel Unveils New Crypto Mining Chip On Monday, Intel unveiled its new Bitcoin (BTC) mining chip, featuring a 580 GH/s (gigahashes per second) hash rate, while consuming just 26 J/TH (joules per terahash), making it much more efficient. It also comes with 256 integrated circuits per chain, in addition to on-chip temperature and voltage sensing capabilities. Dubbed Blockscale, the chip was built with a focus on energy sustainability in the context of ESG (environmental, social, governance) concerns. “The Intel Blockscale ASIC is going to play a major role in helping bitcoin mining companies achieve both sustainability and hash rate scaling objectives in the years ahead,” said Jose Rios, general manager of Blockchain and Business Solutions in the Accelerated Computing Systems and Graphics Group at Intel was quoted as saying. Intel’s Answer to Bitcoin’s Energy Concerns As of now, Intel will provide only the ASIC mining chip, instead of delivering a complete ASIC mining system, currently common among rival companies. For comparison, a mining system consisting of 256 Intel Blockscale AS...
