A German start-up is seeking funds for the development of a new high-performance microchip that it claims will bring down the bitcoin mining energy requirement, and making the cost less prohibitive.
According to Dresden-based ASICrising, the company’s new low-voltage chip technology, when integrated with software will cut down the energy required to mine bitcoin by 50%.
The chip, dubbed Wolfblood Extreme Efficiency, needs only 0.19 joules of energy for a gigahash, which is a mathematical equation of bitcoin mining computing power, compared to 0.37joules per gigahash consumed by the currently available bitcoin-mining chip, the Wall Street Journal reported.
ASICrising, along with Dresden-based chip design firm RacyICs, have developed software that can detect the lowest possible voltage for individual chips within bitcoin mining farms, further boosting the chips’ reliability while optimising its energy efficiency.
As part of its plans, the company will also collaborate with the US semiconductor maker GLOBALFOUNDRIES, which will manufacture the processor in its Dresden facility if ASICrising can raise the $10m-$15m funding required to commence production.
ASICrising noted that the bitcoin mining chips vary from the computing microprocessors designed by UK-based ARM, for example, as they are more complex compared to single-purpose ASICs.
