They are real: The Bitcoin Foundation Opens Up Avalon’s First ASIC
Charlie Shrem Feb 01 2013Link:
https://bitcoinfoundation.org/blog/?p=112 As most of the world awoke to see Bitcoin priced over $20, a new 18-month high, a few of us were fortunate enough to see another miracle this morning – the world’s first ASIC Bitcoin mining machine alive and kicking.
Since the beginning of Bitcoin mining, it’s been understood that the hardware would specialize to the point of dedicated process-specific chips, known as “ASICs” (application specific integrated circuits). However, until today, it was all hope and speculation. And for a year now, the community has been abuzz with rumors and a fierce competition by several companies to be the first to market with the holy grail of hashing.
And to be sure, ASICs are not just a marginal improvement in technology – they represent a mining efficiency upgrade of roughly 50x. Big money, for anyone who can get one up and running and out of the land of unicorns and rainbows.
A winner has finally emerged. Yifu Guo, head of BitSynCom LLC and his soon-to-be infamous Avalon brand, has slaughtered all the unicorns. Yifu arrived in New York City last night, after more than two months in China finishing his masterwork. With him, Avalon’s first ASIC V1. As we poured over it this morning, the thought occurred that it should perhaps be named, “Helicopter Ben.” The difference between this machine and Ben Bernanke, of course, is that this thing prints real money, not the unlimited digital currency known as the US dollar.
As we plugged the beast in (and it is a beast – the size of a desktop computer in a thick aluminum exoskeleton), three NMB MAT7 fans roared to life. It actually sounded like a helicopter. Once the software starts running, however, the temp-controlled fans quiet down markedly. It’s worth pointing out that, while large, the Avalon V1 looks beautiful inside and out. Clean lines, well-organized, and sturdy – it looks professional.
But how does it perform? Beautifully. The unit in front of us, after 30 seconds configuring it with the laptop, was churning out 89 gigahashes of raw crypto-juice every second. This is equal to roughly 250 Radeon HD 5850 graphics cards. And while each of those graphics cards would suck up 200 watts, the Avalon V1 takes only 500-600 watts in total. This isn’t about slowing carbon emissions, it’s about bringing maximum security to the network at the lowest possible cost.
Buyers of the first batch should know that the Avalon units are modular and upgradeable. The stock V1′s will have 3 hashing modules putting out roughly 67 gigahashes per second in total. This model unit in front of us had been upgraded to 4 sets of chips (one more than stock) which is why it puts out over 80 gigahashes. Buyers of the V2 batch, which goes on sale within a day or two, will have room for six sets of chips (V1′s maxing out at 4).
While Helicopter Ben was humming away on the desk, we did some quick calculations. We realized, amazingly, that the machine is actually earning more than minimum wage here in New York City. But unlike a typical employee, this thing works 24/7, taking no holidays, and demanding no healthcare or special benefits. And it won’t ever unionize.
But more than just techie hardware advance, there’s a human narrative worth observing. Sitting on the desk, next to the V1, is a 23 year old bottle of Ron Zacapa rum, to commemorate Yifu Guo’s 23rd birthday today. He’s 23, and he just took Bitcoin mining into a new era. We could tell that Yifu was proud of his creation, and he should be.
Yifu had begun this process a year ago, as he was worried that if only one or two companies built ASICs, and they built too many of them for themselves, it would represent a threat to the Bitcoin network. What if those companies held all the chips and commanded 51% of the network? It was unlikely, but possible, and so Yifu set out to build ASICs of his own, knowing he could trust himself to get them into the hands of diverse customers. Decentralization, and all that.
While he knew he’d never be the first to market, at least he’d be protecting the network. As it turns out, Yifu’s competitors suffered delays, and a couple competitors dropped out of the market completely. Yifu eventually realized that Avalon would be the first brand of ASIC to actually hit the market, “I became the centralization that I set out to destroy,” he jokes.
Those who trusted Yifu with their capital will be richly rewarded, and the Bitcoin network is about to become far more secure. ASIC’s have gone from hypothesis to product. A new piece of the Bitcoin infrastructure has been built.
Many of us see the Bitcoin world as the Wild West, and it’s an apt analogy. Rife with danger, fraudsters, adventure, and opportunity, the Bitcoin landscape is both hostile and beautiful. Upon it, a crucial monetary revolution is happening, and on days like today, we’re reminded that the good guys are winning.
