Intel enters crypto mining business, claims its chip is 1,000x faster than other GPUs

cnbctv18.com:

Intel, the world’s largest chip manufacturer by revenue, officially announced its foray into the world of cryptocurrencies with the launch of a powerful new mining chip. The company intends to cash in on the boom of crypto and non-fungible token (NFT) mining operations with its latest chipset, which it claims functions 1,000 times faster than most conventional Graphics Processing Units (GPUs).Intel firmly believes its chip is an energy-efficient “accelerator” that can make blockchain tasks significantly faster and more environmentally friendly.

If this is true, it could improve efficiency and reduce the otherwise sizeable carbon footprint of blockchain mining activities.“We expect that our circuit innovations will deliver a blockchain accelerator that has over 1000x better performance per watt than mainstream GPUs,” said Raja M Koduri, Senior VP and General Manager of the Accelerated Computing Systems and Graphics Group at Intel Corporation, in a blog post. “You will be able to learn more about our circuit innovations at the International Solid-State Circuit Conference (ISSCC) this month,” he added.The move comes as no surprise, given the immense potential in the blockchain and NFT industry.

Not to mention, Intel competitor NVIDIA Corp., whose chips are widely used for mining activities, already has a dedicated chip to support Ethereum-based mining.Shipping of the chips will commence later in 2022, and its first customers include GRIID Infrastructure and Block Inc, which was previously Square Inc. With Jack Dorsey at the reins, the Square Inc.

renamed itself to Block Inc. to emphasize its focus on blockchain technologies.Intel also announced the acquisition of Israeli firm Tower Semiconductor in a $5.4 billion deal.