Canaan announces new crypto miners, increases mining space competition

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Canaan Creative is currently the second largest manufacturer of cryptocurrency mining equipment. However, the introduction of a new mining rig, coupled with other advancements, could soon see it take over as the number one manufacturer—for the time being.

During last Saturday’s 2018 Mining Summit held in Chengdu, China, Canaan unveiled its new AvalonMiner A911, 8BTC reported. The ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) miner has a maximum hashrate of 18 terahashes per second (TH/s) and the power consumption is 1440W, according to the manufacturer. It provides 80W of power per TH/s usage. It is currently undergoing last-minute preparations and will come to retail stores soon.

On Canaan’s WeChat account, the company said that the machine will be powered by a 7 nanometer (nm) mining chip, which offers stronger hash power while consuming less energy compared to the company’s A921 miner.

Canaan is also planning a few more products on the heels of the A911. The company plans to introduce a cloud computing heater, as well as a mobile mining farm that it calls the “Avalon Box.” There are also plans to begin distributing an artificial intelligence (AI) chip, Kendryte. All of these developments are meant to convert cryptocurrency mining into a routine application seen in everyday life.

This past August, the company introduced the world’s first cryptocurrency mining TV set. The AvalonMiner Inside device is based on AI and is capable of calculating crypto mining profitability in real time.

Canaan is on a mission to innovate. In addition to the other new products it is preparing to roll out, the company has announced that it is preparing a 5nm chip. Bitmain has also announced that it wants to introduce a 5nm chip but, given its unsuccessful track record of introducing viable products to the market, chances aren’t great that it will be able to fulfill the promise.

Despite a lull in the cryptocurrency markets, mining efforts are improving and the manufacturing space is getting more competitive. Ebang Communication announced last month that it was introducing three new mining rigs capable of 44 TH/s. Additionally, Squire Mining out of Canada has reportedly tapped tech giant Samsung Electronics to manufacture its ASIC chips in South Korea, while Foxconn-backed Taiwanese firm Ennoconn will design and develop its mining systems that will mine Bitcoin BCH and other associated cryptocurrencies.