This week began with unverified news about Samsung making a grand entrance onboard the blockchain train by manufacturing Application-specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) chips used by crypto miners. Towards the end of the week, Samsung came out to confirm the news and disclosed how they already have thousands of orders for the chips since 2017. Although, even before now, Samsung has been producing ASIC chips, but they weren’t specifically for mining purposes.
Miners and crypto enthusiasts are glad about the news of a well known brand foraying into blockchain and crypto as this would lend more credibility to the space.
Samsung, however, won’t be supplying the chips directly to consumers. They would be working with a Chinese startup who would distribute the chips provided by Samsung. The electronic giant’s involvement would be on a foundry level. Large scale productions are expected to start in the new week.
For those who have been following Samsung’s activities for a while now, this latest announcement wouldn’t be a surprise as Samsung has been showing interests in getting involved in crypto mining hardware. Before now, Samsung made an experimental mining rig which consisted of some of its old S5s mobiles. It claimed it was seeking ways to “upcycle” the old products. Months later, there was news that a Russian company, Baikal would be supplied ASIC chips by Samsung.
All in all, another player in the mining hardware industry is much welcome. After all, competition helps to keep everyone on their feet and ensure quality is not bastardized. Other competitors in the space include Bitmain, a Chinese firm that has dominated the ASIC chips space for a long time and Canaan Creative. These two companies both partner with TSMC a large Taiwan brand.
As Samsung seeks to get established in mining, several other known brands are considering venturing in the new direction too. A fitting example is Kodak, who recently announced its KodakCoin project are also having plans for a mining subsidiary.
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