How Bitdeer Is Transforming Bitcoin Mining Machines

Application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) chips signifier the backbone of the bitcoin (BTC) mining industry. ASIC machines are made for a azygous purpose: To lick Bitcoin’s SHA-256 algorithm arsenic accelerated arsenic imaginable successful bid to cod artifact rewards.

They’re highly bully astatine it. One of the astir wide utilized ASIC machines, the Antminer S19, is susceptible of making 82 trillion computations per 2nd — 820 times the fig of stars successful the Milky Way. The $30 cardinal ASIC manufacturing marketplace is dominated by Bitmain. The Chinese company’s machines powerfulness astir 80% of Bitcoin’s hashrate, according to TheMinerMag.

But Singapore-based bitcoin mining steadfast Bitdeer (BTDR) intends to shingle things up with the merchandise of a caller ASIC spot architecture. These caller chips could bring a immense leap successful efficiency, the institution claims, portion improving transparency successful the ASIC manufacturing process.

“The 2 ascendant players [Bitmain and MicroBT] are some backstage companies, and precise opaque,” Jeff LaBerge, caput of superior markets and strategical initiatives astatine Bitdeer, told CoinDesk successful an interview. “They don’t truly prosecute with the media oregon springiness immoderate benignant of guidance astir what they’re doing from an R&D standpoint, and that makes it precise hard for end-buyers to plan.”

“We privation our customers to cognize wherever we’re astatine successful our manufacturing process, what our roadmap is successful presumption of caller spot designs, wherever we’re astatine successful our accumulation cycles,” LaBerge said.

Shanon Squires, main mining serviceman astatine bitcoin hosting steadfast Compass Mining, told CoinDesk that accrued visibility into ASIC accumulation would assistance miners program caller hardware shipments and marque it easier to foretell Bitcoin’s trouble growth. “Bitdeer’s committedness to transparency is large for the mining industry,” she said.

“While Canaan discloses its yearly income measurement for assorted mining models, Bitdeer takes it a measurement further by providing much predominant transportation measurement updates,” Wolfie Zhao, caput of probe astatine TheMinerMag, told CoinDesk. “Although some are smaller players successful the hardware market, their efforts amusement bully religion successful promoting transparency. Hopefully, this volition promote the larger marketplace incumbents to instrumentality note.”

Seeking efficiency

ASIC chips person utilized mostly the aforesaid blueprint since 2014. Over the past decade, the biggest increases successful ASIC powerfulness ratio person travel astatine the foundry level, arsenic starring planetary chipmaker TSMC has refined its manufacturing process. While miners person besides made alterations to spot design, specified modifications person lone brought incremental gains.

Even so, advancement has been tremendous. The precise archetypal ever ASIC, Canaan’s Avalon (2013) had a powerfulness ratio of 6,000 joules per terahash (J/TH). Bitmain’s Antminer S21XP Hydro, the existent astir businesslike instrumentality connected the market, boasts 12 J/TH efficiency.

Bitdeer, which is listed connected Nasdaq, wants to make a wholly caller architecture for its ASICs. “We consciousness similar it’s going to beryllium indispensable to interruption into what we telephone the single-digit ratio range,” LaBerge said, referring to mining rigs with little than 10 J/TH successful efficiency.

Scaling up with the accepted blueprint means utilizing progressively thinner chips. But thinner means chips are much apt to beryllium defective and yields per batch thin to fall. “You’re besides competing with Apple and Nvidia and immoderate of the biggest companies successful the satellite for the aforesaid materials,” LaBerge said.

Bitdeer’s Chief Strategy Officer, Haris Basit, is starring a squad of engineers to make a caller framework. LaBerge credited immoderate members of that portion with putting unneurotic Bitmain’s archetypal ASIC chips backmost successful 2014 — the chips whose architecture became the modular crossed the industry. (Bitmain did not respond to a petition for comment.)

Bitdeer’s probe has already had successes. The company’s astir caller product, the SEALMINER A3, achieved a powerfulness ratio of 9.7 J/TH during show trials, the steadfast reported connected Monday. That means the A3 — which inactive uses the accepted ASIC blueprint — could extremity up taking the ratio crown from the S21XP Hydro.

Yet the miner’s SEALMINER A4, which volition employment the firm’s caller spot architecture, is expected to devour 5 J/TH. It volition apt beryllium the astir businesslike ASIC instrumentality connected the marketplace by a important margin.

“People person known for a agelong clip that you could recycle [the electric] complaint connected a chip, but nary one's truly been capable to fig retired however to bash that successful a mode that allows for precocious performance… We've cracked the codification connected however to bash this successful a precise precocious show application,” Basit told the Coin Stories podcast successful December.

“Instead of conscionable utilizing [charge] erstwhile and discharging it, we usage it respective times, four, five, six times. So we get [a] 75-80% betterment successful ratio by doing that,” Basit added.

“Our SEALMINER A4 chips volition usage this technology, but it should besides beryllium applicable much mostly successful integer chips, particularly integer chips that are highly active, similar GPUs and awesome processing chips.”

Manufacturing chips

Making ASICs isn’t easy. Bitdeer’s probe squad is divided into 2 units (one successful Singapore, different successful Silicon Valley) that some enactment connected caller spot designs. “For specified a elemental instrumentality — each it does is lick the SHA-256 algorithm — it’s highly analyzable to design. We’ve got immoderate of the champion engineers successful the satellite moving connected this,” LaBerge said. The institution spends astir $6-8 cardinal connected probe per quarter.

So far, the steadfast has been delivering caller products astatine a accelerated pace. Bitdeer pushed retired some the SEALMINER A1 and A2 successful 2024 and is expecting the A3 to participate wide accumulation successful the second fractional of 2025. It says the A4 should scope tape-out (the past signifier of its designing process) successful the 3rd 4th of the year, with a merchandise apt successful late-2025 oregon aboriginal 2026.

When a caller spot plan is finalized, Bitdeer sends the plans implicit to TSMC. Not lone is the Taiwanese steadfast the largest spot shaper successful the world, it’s besides the astir precocious connected a technological level, which makes Bitdeer’s concern with it crucial.

“You can't conscionable spell to TSMC and say, ‘Hey, I privation 100 exahash worthy of chips successful the adjacent 3 months.’ There's a process for going done that,” LaBerge said. “You spell successful and inquire them for spot allocation, and they'll springiness that based connected priority.”

Once it has the plans successful hand, TSMC produces a mask, which fundamentally functions arsenic a template for chips — similar the platen successful a printing press. The disguise is sent to Bitdeer alongside hazard chips (a tiny batch of chips that the institution tin usage for trials) to marque definite the plan works properly. If the steadfast needs immoderate alterations to beryllium made to the design, that’s erstwhile it happens. In that case, TSMC makes corrections based connected Bitdeer’s feedback and sends implicit a caller disguise with caller hazard chips. All of this happens astatine important cost. Bitdeer spent $14 cardinal connected the A2’s tape-out, and the A3 was adjacent much expensive, LaBerge said.

When Bitdeer is satisfied with a design, TSMC uses the disguise to mass-produce wafers. LaBerge compared wafers to sheets, each containing hundreds of chips. Technically, a disguise tin beryllium utilized to make an astir unlimited fig of wafers, but TSMC has finite resources and tin lone nutrient a definite fig of chips, truthful firms extremity up competing for them.

One of the advantages of the A4’s design, according to LaBerge, is that it’s expected to marque the firm’s spot allocation process easier. “[Basit] challenged the squad to travel up with a caller architecture that didn’t request to acquisition TSMC’s latest processes, but could measurement backmost a mates of generations, which would let america to usage a node that is overmuch little successful demand,” helium said. A semiconductor node is fundamentally a circumstantial mentation of the firm’s spot manufacturing technology; TSMC is perpetually gathering caller nodes successful an effort to refine its processes.

It takes astir 3 months for Bitdeer to person its disguise and hazard chips aft archetypal submitting its plan to TSMC. Then, it’s different 3 oregon 4 months for the institution to person its chips erstwhile it has fixed the foundry the greenish airy for wide production. The chips are sent consecutive to Bitdeer’s manufacturing facilities successful Asia. From there, it tin instrumentality 4 to 8 weeks for the mining rigs to beryllium afloat built and packaged.

Aiming for the top

Despite each the costs incurred during production, immoderate of the superior required for manufacturing ASICs comes from Bitdeer’s customers.

Miners funny successful purchasing Bitdeer’s ASICs typically enactment down a deposit of 25% to 50% of the full outgo of the order. The accumulation rhythm tends to mean astatine six to 7 months, truthful it doesn’t instrumentality agelong for the institution to recuperate its funds and marque a profit.

Building ASICs besides creates advantages for Bitdeer’s ain mining operations. Up until precocious the firm, which was founded successful 2021, focused connected the hosting business, meaning that it provided facilities for different bitcoin miners to spot their rigs. Bitdeer is dilatory transitioning retired of that exemplary and expanding its ain mining operations alongside its ASIC manufacturing arm.

The acquisition of ASICs is typically the astir costly portion of gathering up a bitcoin mining operation. These machines usually lone past astir 3 oregon 4 years earlier newer models marque them obsolete, truthful bitcoin mining firms are perpetually looking to get more.

Not lone is Bitdeer capable to considerably trim these costs by producing its ain machines, but it besides has the enactment of selling its mining rigs to different firms depending connected its needs.

Down the line, Bitdeer aims to springiness Bitmain and MicroBT a tally for their money, and disrupt what LaBerge called the duopoly of the ASIC market. “We privation to beryllium the apical subordinate successful the market, absolutely,” LaBerge said. “We judge we person the squad and the exertion to bash that.”