Samsung, one of the leading tech giants in the world, has announced the upcoming release of a 3-nanometer (NM) mining chip. According to the tech company, the new mining chip will have a 45% energy efficiency rate.
According to reports, the proposed new chip is set to have higher performance than other mining tools. More importantly, it is also expected to help address the issue of carbon emissions, which has been a hot topic in the crypto mining space.
Samsung began developing the mining chips late last year by collaborating with various partners. According to a statement from Samsung, the company is working on 2-nm and 3-nm chips, which will be available by 2025.
Samsung Joined the Crypto Enthusiasts
The tech firm has shown interest in cryptocurrency and blockchain technology since 2018 and has begun making inroads into the industries. In the beginning, Samsung considered integrating blockchain technology into its space to help solve operational issues.
However, there was a change in plan as the company decided to integrate the technology into its several smartphone products. In 2019, Samsung began aggressively advertising its Galaxy smartphone brand integrated with Ethereum and TRON blockchains.
Moreover, in 2020, Samsung added another twist to its blockchain journey by undertaking the development of an IPO for South Korea’s largest crypto exchange.
As the years passed, Samsung dived into the NFT and metaverse space. At the start of the year, the tech company announced the launch of a smart TV that allows users to transact NFT collections. This is followed by establishing a store in Decentraland metaverse to signal a move to the virtual ecosystem.
It is worth noting that Samsung first entered the crypto space in 2019 when it disclosed that it had begun creating mining chips.
Crypto Mining: Unending Problems
Like other industries, the crypto mining sector faces multiple issues, the biggest of which is energy consumption. Mining operations are a highly energy-intensive activity that has become the bone of contention between governments and miners over the years.
Moreover, some countries are friendly to crypto miners while others are not. But rising domestic energy demand has forced the more mining-friendly countries to halt miners’ operations. The latest is Kazakhstan and Sweden, which have banned crypto mining due to electricity shortages.
Meanwhile, the sharp drop in the price of Bitcoin below $20,000 has made mining tools produced before 2019 less profitable. All mining chips above 7 nm could not cover the energy cost of the token they mine.
As a result, the once successful crypto mining companies have difficulties with their balance sheets. The two firms that have made headlines are Core Scientific and Compass Mining. These two companies have to sell out their Bitcoin mining rigs to be able to settle some of their bills.
The rising domestic energy demand has forced countries to take a hard stance against crypto mining, thus having a broader impact on the market.