Jack Dorsey provides Core Scientific with a new ASIC chip for low-energy consumption Bitcoin mining

According to what was revealed yesterday on X, Jack Dorsey and his company Block are developing a new ASIC technology to make Bitcoin mining more efficient.

The former Twitter boss has struck a deal with the miner Core Scientific to integrate new 3-nanometer chips and bring new computing power to the American extraction company.
In total, the new fleet should add 15 EH/s to Core Scientific’s hashrate.

In the meantime, in the rest of the world, the war for hoarding electricity to support mining activities continues.

Let’s see all the details below.

Jack Dorsey and Block develop a new ASIC technology for mining together with Core Scientific

Jack Dorsey together with his financial services company Block, is working to develop new super-efficient ASICs with 3-nanometer chips. 

The intent is to improve the Bitcoin mining industry by bringing more efficient hardware, with high extraction and low energy consumption.

Just yesterday an agreement was announced with the North American miner Core Scientific, which sees Block committing to supply the operator with new ASICs.

The new devices with 3 nm chips will be built by the Proto team (internal to Jack Dorsey’s company), which will have the task of increasing the miner’s computing capacity.

In particular, these ASICs should add about 15 EH/s to the current mining capacity of Core Scientific, which is 24.6 EH/S.

By doing so, this well-known Bitcoin mining and hosting service would reach a share equal to 7% of the “total hashrate” of the cryptographic network.

It is not the first time that Jack Dorsey has ventured into this sector: in October 2021 his company Block had already started developing its own semiconductor chips.

In 2023 the magnate supporter of Bitcoin had instead completed a prototype of a 5 nm ASIC chip, improving the approach to mining in a context of global hardware shortage.

The new invention of 3nm chips could make mining Bitcoin significantly less expensive, greatly reducing energy consumption.

Block has publicly reported how its commitment to building efficient ASIC technology is particularly costly as well as complex.

Regarding the agreement with Core Scientific, Thomas Templeton, head of Block, expressed himself in this way:

“Core Scientific is known for its high standards of operational excellence, advanced infrastructure, and deep experience in the mining sector. We are excited to break new ground by collaborating with a major mining operator to build a unique and customized mining solution that leverages our ASICs.”

Decentralize Bitcoin mining with low-power ASICs

The Proto team, internal to Jack Dorsey’s Block company, is engaged in the mission to decentralize Bitcoin mining with efficient ASICs.

According to the announcement made yesterday, cryptographic experts are working on a new modular mining platform with an innovative chip design.

The intent is to offer a reliable solution that offers low energy consumption and high extraction capacity in a short time.

The new project by Jack Dorsey is designed to simplify the needs of miners by optimizing space and consumption. Additionally, the new chips should be compatible with existing, non-ASIC devices of the Core Scientific hardware stack.

Proto aims to increase the decentralization of Bitcoin network mining operators, offering transparency and resilience. To achieve this, in addition to developing the aforementioned chips, it is working on a Mining Development Kit (MDK) which is currently in beta version.

This Kit could democratize access to mining, offering a suite of tools open to everyone to contribute to the security of the Bitcoin network.

The agreement with Core Scientific represents a significant step forward towards this open and decentralized vision. The new ASIC systems will indeed be available both for large customers like the U.S. miner and for small operators.

Thomas Templeton  added the following while commenting on the ambitious vision of the Porto team:

“By adopting this approach, we aim to promote innovation and significantly expand the bitcoin mining hardware ecosystem. We are excited to see more projects of different types and sizes become possible with access to our vertically integrated hardware systems and mining chips, especially those that bring more innovation to the space.”

The importance of electric energy in mining: The case of Malaysia and the theft of 723 million dollars of electricity

Jack Dorsey’s commitment to building a more efficient ASIC technology is motivated by new global challenges in terms of energy consumption.

The Bitcoin mining operators compete every day to get the device with the lowest consumption possible with the same yield.

This is because, with competition at its peak, only the big players manage to survive the significant energy costs thanks to their super-optimized fleets and bulk hardware purchases.

In Malaysia the weight of competition has been strongly felt, especially between 2018 and 2023 when some miners stole energy worth 723 million dollars.

To spread this news was Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir, deputy minister of energy and water of Malaysia, who reported the criminal behavior of the group.

This type of operations have severely damaged both the energy capacity of Malaysia and the local areas surrounding the affected regions.

Nasir in the past had also attended an event for the disposal of about 2000 Bitcoin mining tools, including ASIC machines, worth 467,000 dollars. It is not the first time he has encountered similar ground: on that occasion, the confiscated machines were crushed by a steamroller.

Nasir had invited the other politicians of Malaysia to limit these unethical behaviors of the miner by pushing for the renewable transformation of the country.

According to the deputy minister, electricity thieves manage to divert power lines by bypassing meters in Malaysia, causing millions in damages.

These were his words at the press conference:

“The theft of electricity by those who mine cryptocurrency occurs because they believe that this activity cannot be detected due to the absence of meters in their premises. However, energy supply companies have various methods to detect unusual energy consumption in an area.”