Hive Blockchain eyes double hash rate with Intel mining chips

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Block reward mining firm Hive Blockchain Technologies (TSXV:HIVE | OTCQX:HVBTF | FSE:HBF) has signed a deal with tech giant Intel to acquire units of its new high-performing block reward mining chips. Hive will incorporate Intel’s chips in its new custom mining devices, estimating that they could double its hash rate.

Hive announced the supply agreement on March 7, revealing that Intel’s chips will be incorporated into its state-of-the-art mining equipment, which is being custom-built for the company.

The company entered into an agreement with an original design manufacturer with expertise in electronics manufacturing. This manufacturer will integrate the Intel chips into an air-cooled mining system. Hive expects the miners to be delivered within a year, starting in the second half of 2022. 

Once the devices are fired up, Hive expects its production to almost double stating: “…if they are all installed, would be an expected increase of up to 95% in our aggregate Bitcoin mining hashrate from 1.9 Exahash per second.”

The chips, known as Bonanza Mine, were unveiled by Intel in February in an attempt to break into a market that has been dominated by a few companies, led by Bitmain and MicroBT. Though highly anticipated, they failed to live up to expectations, with their performance being billed as way below the dominant ASIC chips currently in the market.

Shortly after, Intel announced that it was working on the second generation of its chip, which would perform much better than its predecessor. Hive will be getting this second generation Bonanza Mine chip, as will other miners, including Griid and London listed Argo Blockchain (LSE: ARB).

“Intel’s energy-efficient and high performance blockchain accelerator is expected to reduce our power consumption over current ASIC miners on the market,” Hive President and COO Aydin Kilic stated, commenting on the deal.

“In the past year HIVE has been strategically evaluating its path forward for growth in the market and we are very pleased to expand our Bitcoin mining program with Intel solutions. Intel’s commitment to challenging the status quo and commitment to energy efficient products aligns very well with our ESG and clean energy commitment,” executive chairman Frank Holmes added.

Hive also announced that it had entered into a Letter of Intent with Compute North to deploy 100 megawatts of miners in Texas powered by renewable energy.

A year ago, the company purchased 6,400 Canaan AvalonMiner 1246 next-generation miners, revealing it had already exceeded its capacity goal of 1000 PH/s.

Watch: CoinGeek New York panel, How to Achieve Green Bitcoin: Energy Consumption & Environmental Sustainability