from bloomberg crypto
Chinese manufacturers have dominated the hardware market since Bitcoin mining first became a thing. Beijing-based Bitmain enjoys a lion’s share of the market and unparalleled pricing power. Intel’s entry into this market might just represent a jolt of competition miners have been longing for.
In the meanwhile, the migration of the Bitcoin mining industry from China to North America is spurring more demand among miners for a local provider. Purchases from a U.S.-based company like Intel would be free of the 25% tariff on the imported machines from China. Given Intel’s customer services set up, miners might have better access to timely maintenance services needed to slow their rigs’ depreciation.
Still, nobody yet knows much about Intel’s second generation chip’s power efficiency, which is a key factor in determining a mining machine’s profitability.
