Bitcoin Mining
ASIC Success Story
Application
In the spring of 2010, an inconspicuous computer programmer paid 10,000 BTC for a couple pizzas–now referred to as the most expensive pizzas in the world (10,000 BTC is worth about $250M today!). But with an initial monetary value assigned to this new form of currency, the race began to mine digital coins.
Bitcoin mining requires intense computational energy to create new bitcoin blockchains. The earliest mining was pioneered using generic CPUs, but as the electricity required to mine new coins skyrocketed and miners in turn demanded more energy-efficient solutions. GPUs soon became the dominant hardware due architectures which are better suited for blockchain creation.
The gains made with GPUs were eventually overshadowed by FPGAs which could be programmed with optimized mining algorithms. FPGA solutions were, in turn, surpassed in performance by full-custom ASICs which implemented fully-optimized hardware in ever improving technology nodes. Dedicated ASICs are now the most efficient and fastest solution used by bitcoin miners to create new blockchains.
Custom Solution from CSS
CSS was an early provider of custom bitcoin mining ASIC solutions.
CSS has developed bitcoin mining ASICs in both 65nm and 28nm. The 28nm ASIC shown here has 1024 cores and over 5.5 billion transistors.
It was the world’s first custom routed bitcoin ASIC device.
Key Features
- 28nm Global Foundries CMOS
- 5.5 Billion Transistors
- 150 Watt power dissipation
- Wafer-scale BGA with over 1,000 balls