Bitcoin mining has grown in complexity since the early days when miners could use a home computer and a piece of software on a CPU to earn tokens by sustaining the blockchain.
These days, the cost of electricity and the hardware required to mine Bitcoin exceeds the profit of making it. Enter the Applied Specific Integrated Circuits supercomputer, or ASIC. A dedicated machine with one sole purpose—using the proof of work (PoW) scheme, electric power and a single software program to mine Bitcoin.
An entire industry has sprung up to feed the cyptocurrency mining boom.
Canaan, a leading Chinese supplier of ASIC-powered bitcoin mining machines has announced it will be supplying 6,000 units of its A1246 model to US mining operator, Core Scientific.
The big gun of Bitcoin mining
The A1246 is Canaan’s latest iteration of its AvalonMiner model. It produces a stable hashrate of 90 terrawatts per second (TH/s), with an energy efficiency of 38J/TH, making it one of the fastest ASIC mining rigs on the market today.
The company invented the world’s first ASIC bitcoin mining machine, and Canaan CEO, Nangeng Zhang, said the impacts of the global COVID-19 pandemic had created an opportunity for the company to service the increased demand for crypto-mining hardware.
“This latest purchase from Core Scientific reflects the reliability of our manufacturing capabilities and we are thrilled to be supporting their operations as a leader in North America’s mining industry,” he said in a press release.
Adding 400MW of power to Core Scientific’s capacity
Core Scientific is the single largest digital currency mining operator in North America. Its fleet of data centres all host dedicated mining servers operating around the clock, spread across three US states. Beginning in March, the company will begin deploying Canaan’s A1246 mining platform into its fleet of servers, adding a staggering 400MW of power to its ASIC-driven capacity.
Core Scientific’s website states it uses hydropower and green energy to cool and supply its enormous arrays of servers, but is still just shy of 50% renewables as it looks to hit a 100% renewable energy target.
“Mainstream adoption of digital asset investment is increasing exponentially, with large public companies and financial institutions looking for exposure to the sector at an accelerated rate,” said Kevin Turner, President and CEO of Core Scientific.
“To address this demand we’re adding to our fast-growing fleet. Working with Canaan will help us meet this goal and strengthen our position as the largest hosting provider in North America.”
