Bitcoin (BTC) mining company Argo Blockchain (ARBK) is "leaning toward" developing its own machines with Intel chips and partnering with a third-party vendor to bring them to life, the company's CEO Peter Wall said in an interview with CoinDesk.
Intel chips are expected to break the duopoly of Bitmain and MicroBT, which dominate the mining application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) market.
In addition, Wall's interview with CoinDesk shows how they can allow miners to design their own machines instead of having to settle for pre-built machines from manufacturers.
Argo is one of the few companies that will buy Intel's new bitcoin mining ASICs, the other three being Jack Dorsey's Block (SQ), Hive Blockchain (HIVE) and Griid Infrastructure.
The company had already announced in its 2021 annual earnings report that it would deploy "custom mining machines using Intel's state-of-the-art blockscale ASIC chips," but had not specified exactly how they would be developed and produced.
There are two ways Bitcoin miners can use Intel's chips, Wall said. The first is to "get the chips" and then "work with your own third-party manufacturer to design and build a machine to your specifications," he said. The second option is to work with Intel-recommended manufacturers to build the bitcoin mining rigs, he said.
Given Argo's history of "always favoring more control and customization," the company is leaning toward the first option, which is "being able to build our own custom rigs," Wall said.
Bitcoin mining machine customization
When asked about specific aspects of customization, the CEO mentioned "form factors" and adapting bitcoin mining rigs for immersion and air cooling. Immersion cooling is a technology in which machines are immersed in a liquid that does not conduct electricity to cool them, as opposed to using auxiliary devices such as fans.
Customizing the mining machines also allows Argo to control "a lot more of the software side of things," which is "a big advantage ... especially in the immersion environment," Wall said.
Argo's CEO said more details will be announced in the coming weeks.
There are three "Ms" that are important in bitcoin mining: Money, Megawatts and Machines, Wall said. Miners have been innovating on the first two by developing innovative financing solutions and working more closely with power producers, so it only makes sense for them to eventually address the machines part as well.
Over time, other miners will realize that this is the right direction," i.e., customized machines, the CEO said.
A key obstacle to bitcoin mining rig customization has been chip manufacturers. Existing industry players like Bitmain and MicroBT tend to keep their designs and even their supply chain under wraps. "You need a chipmaker willing to play along, and that's what's great about Intel, that they're really only interested in selling chips," Wall said.
However, to build custom Bitcoin miners, companies need a lot of technical know-how as well as experience with mining, chips and firmware, he said.
At the end of the day, "that's the proof of the pudding," Wall said. Just like Argo's Helios mine, which finally went live this week after more than nine months of construction, only then will the company be able to say, "It was difficult, but we did it.