Block (formerly Square) builds its own Bitcoin mining system | Wilnesh News

Jack Dorsey said his payments company clogged (formerly Square) is expanding its Bitcoin Mining ambitions from designing chips to developing complete Bitcoin mining systems.

In Tuesday’s postthe global technology company announced that it has completed the development of its own independent three-nanometer Bitcoin mining chip and is currently working with “the world’s leading semiconductor foundries” on the design.

Block has also unveiled plans to expand the scope of its mining projects to include systems design.

“We have spent a significant amount of time talking to a variety of Bitcoin miners to identify the challenges faced by mining operators,” Block wrote. “Based on these insights, and in line with our goal to support the decentralization of mining, we plan to provide Independent mining chips and complete mining systems designed by ourselves.”

The democratization of Bitcoin mining—the process of creating new Bitcoins by solving increasingly complex computational problems—is an important part of the project’s mission statement.

When Block first entered the mining hardware industry in 2021, Dorsey wrote: “Mining is not for everyone. Bitcoin mining should be as easy as plugging your device into a power source. There are not enough for individuals today. Incentives to overcome the complexity of running a miner yourself.

In fact, members of the Bitcoin community have long worried that hardware vulnerabilities could harm the stability of the network. For example, ASIC chips used in mining equipment are manufactured in China, which has been hostile to the crypto industry in recent years.

Block said in a memo on Tuesday that the goal of the project is to decentralize the supply of Bitcoin mining hardware and the distribution of computing power (a proxy for industry competition and mining difficulty).

To do so, the fintech company is solving a major barrier to entry: Mining equipment is difficult and expensive to find, and delivery can be unpredictable.

The company didn’t reveal details in its latest announcement, but Posted by Dorsey in 2021 The company is considering a “customized chip-based Bitcoin mining system.” At the time, Dorsey went on to share his thoughts on the need to focus more on vertical integration and chip design, which he believed was too concentrated in a small number of companies.

Thomas Templeton, Block’s general manager of hardware, previously revealed plans to improve mining reliability and user experience, solving common problems with heat dissipation and noise generation.

The announcement comes on the heels of the latest Bitcoin halving, which took effect later on Friday. This event occurs approximately every four years and cuts the issuance of new Bitcoins in half.

The idea of ​​making the mining process easier isn’t just about generating new Bitcoins. Instead, Dorsey sees this as a long-term need for a fully decentralized and permissionless future.

“Mining needs to be more decentralized,” Dorsey said when he first pitched the idea at X in October. “The more decentralized it is, the more resilient the Bitcoin network will be.”

To that end, Block’s venture capital arm has backed Gridless, which operates Bitcoin mining farms using renewable energy in Kenya, Malawi and Zambia.