Block Making Headway With Custom Bitcoin Mining ASIC Progress

Block Inc (formerly Square), the payments company founded by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, has updated its progress in developing its own Bitcoin mining hardware.

In a recent announcement, the business acknowledged the problem of industry concentration but that it was still moving ahead with its commitment.

Block’s ASIC Release Update

In October 2021, Jack Dorsey expressed interest in building a Bitcoin mining system. He visioned a distributed, efficient, open, and accessible mining system. Which in turn would make the Bitcoin network more resilient for individuals and businesses.

At the time, the tech mogul had pointed at a centralization problem. A problem within the silicon design space and the supply of Bitcoin mining ASICs. This stands for Application-Specific Integrated Circuits. In this case, chips and machines built specifically to optimize proof of work on Bitcoin.

According to an April 28 update, Block stated that it is,

“Uniquely well positioned to help address this problem by introducing new Bitcoin mining ASIC and hardware solutions.”

The financial services company also noted that it has a strong background in designing ASICs and aims to increase the transparency, resiliency, and decentralization of the Bitcoin network. In line with this goal, Block plans to make its bitcoin mining technology open-source wherever possible, the statement noted.

Block’s general manager for hardware, Thomas Templeton, had remarked last year that the company is striving to address the primary consumer pain points after Block’s initial announcement.

The release adds:

“Since kicking off the project, we have made significant progress in the development of our ASIC. This has included assembling a team of ASIC designers and developing initial designs that are testing competitively with the best ASICs on the market.”

Software Engineer Hiring Wave Continues

While Block is reportedly developing its own custom Bitcoin mining ASIC, it also acquired a significant number of Bitcoin mining ASICs from Intel. According to Block, it has expedited its mining system development and allowed its design team to focus on three-nanometer ASIC development. The statement also notes that the purchase will expedite and push the development to the markets.

Meanwhile, Block stated that it has advanced with producing a prototype of its finished five-nanometer design. The release also highlights,

“This is an exciting milestone which will allow us to experiment with design variants, validate our design work, and calibrate our testing on real silicon.”

While Block boosts significant progress in the development of its ASIC, it is also assembling a team of software engineers.

That said, Lindsey Grossman, Business Lead at Block’s Bitcoin Wallet, stated on Twitter that the company is easing fiat and crypto on/off-ramps for users.

Its March release noted that it would enable people to own and manage their money. The company promotes a self-custody Bitcoin wallet to connect distributed systems with traditional centralized money.