Intel, a leading chipmaker for computers and data centers, recently announced that it is discontinuing its bitcoin mining chip series. This marks the end of a project that was launched by Intel about a year ago as a means of competing with the dominant forces in the cryptocurrency mining sector, Bitmain and MicroBT.

Intel Blockscale 1000 Series ASIC was the name of the project, and its primary customers were Argo Blockchain (ARBK), Block (SQ), Griid Infrastructure and Hive Blockchain (HIVE). Though the company had four customers for its products, the only one that reportedly confirmed installation of the chips was Hive.

The production phase of the project will end on October 20th, 2020, and all orders are to be delivered by April 20th, 2024. It is worth noting that Intel will continue to support its Blockscale customers.

The decision to end the project has been attributed to Intel's commitment to "IDM 2.0," which appears to refer to its widely reported plans to invest $20 billion in two new chip factories in Arizona. With the newfound focus of the company on 'IDM 2.0', Intel had to end the Bitcoin mining chip series and move on.

When asked about the possibility of a future similar project, Intel's spokesperson said that the company is keeping its options open and continuing to monitor new market opportunities. Whether this means that Intel is planning to embark on a novel cryptocurrency mining venture remains to be seen.

The development could open the market up for other firms specializing in chipmaking to compete in the cryptocurrency mining sector, with the possibility of offering better deals for those mining for cryptocurrencies.



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