Samsung, Apple, ASICs and mining

[Jet Cash]

It seems that Samsung is developing an ASIC chip for mining, and they are talking to Apple with a view to producing a low cost mining rig. If this happens, what effect do you think it will have on the crypto markets?

[mrbnson]

I can't see it having a really large effect. Mining would become more competitive as the cost of entry decreases but difficulty would scale accordingly so that the amount of coins coming in to circulation is roughly unchanged.

It would be some good publicity at least if Samsung and Apple actually advertised the products as being designed for cryptocurrency mining, that could help to boost the price.

[Jet Cash]

I wonder if it will lead to decentralisation of mining. If home mining is affordable again, then it may revive a cottage industry in mining.

[grimesrhymes]

I wonder if it will lead to decentralisation of mining. If home mining is affordable again, then it may revive a cottage industry in mining.

As mrbnson said it will lower entry costs and that could result in a much larger number of people mining. I feel as though large mines will always have an advantage in terms of access to the best tech at cheap costs as well as ideal locations to maximize efficiency and reduce costs but an introduction of more affordable tech could move the trend back towards a cottage industry for at least a while.

As long as home mining is affordable and profitable people will do it, even if it's not as profitable for them as it is the mega mines. Any trend back towards home mining will help in many ways as the supply of bitcoin won't be controlled so much by a few entities.

[penig]

Apple and low cost?  Nonsense story.

Samsung confirmed a while back they are manufacturing mining ASICs but seemed as part of chip foundry business not branded consumer product.

[rayk]

It will have a good effect on crypto industry and coins as well, crypto mining is really big industry and so far and not dominated by lots of companies. There is a big business opportunity in this field.

[oaktree]

It seems that Samsung is developing an ASIC chip for mining, and they are talking to Apple with a view to producing a low cost mining rig. If this happens, what effect do you think it will have on the crypto markets?

It depends on whether it brings down the price of ASICs or not.

If and when there is a stock market crash, the proper type that drags down all shares regardless of true value, it might be worth investing in Samsung, Nvdia and other as a way of getting exposure to the chip/graphics card part of crypto.

[Toxic2040]

Everyone is looking at this tech now..the problem we are facing is that there is a limited number of process nodes(foundry's) available that can keep up with demand for wafers. Should see some interesting things happen over the next 12 months as more and more companies focus on the mining industry.

https://www.techpowerup.com/241552/nvidia-turing-is-a-crypto-mining-chip-jen-hsun-huang-made-to-save-pc-gaming

[gentlemand]

Is there a source about the Apple thing?

They're the toppiest tech company that have said the least about crypto overall as far as I can tell. And I don't see where it fits into their plans. They're all about servicing their zombie masses with shiny things rather than purposeful tech.

If the Samsung chip cuts it is there anything stopping Bitmain buying all of them up? I doubt Samsung give the slightest shit about BTC's decentralisation.

[faatipoke]

I do not think this will affect the market or the price of bitcoin too much. Bitcoin price is dependent on the regulations or software developments, if big countries adopts bitcoin and lightning network is succesful price will go to moon. If not bitcoin will have difficult days. Improvements in mining is inevitable and it has nothing to do with the price.

[shield132]

It seems that Samsung is developing an ASIC chip for mining, and they are talking to Apple with a view to producing a low cost mining rig. If this happens, what effect do you think it will have on the crypto markets?

Hope that will happen, at least we will have a company which ships asic miners without headaches.
Just want to see what will be Bitmain's next turn if this news is real.
Nothing big, I think it won't increase price but a lot of people will turn into mining because samsung can promote it in more older people and more widely too, people trust samsung.

[alyssa85]

Do we know how much of what Samsung, Apple, Nvidia etc are producing is going into cryptocurency mining?

I found the following article which indicates that some miners are making their own miners, as are some independent hardware stores:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-crypto-currencies-mining-analysis/computer-shops-embrace-lucrative-business-outfitting-cryptocurrency-miners-idUSKCN1G502L

Scores of miners from around the world are traveling to places like Hong Kong’s Sham Shui Po and Singapore’s Sim Lim Square to buy the rigs, which the shops’ hardware geeks expertly build behind counters in their cramped boutiques.

Some miners only buy components: a motherboard, graphic processing units, fans, power adapters, a display card and a memory card. But even if the vendors assemble them on the spot for a small fee, the finished product is usually still a relative bargain.

“It’s 30-50 percent cheaper to buy equipment related to cryptomining in Hong Kong than in Europe,” Russian bitcoin miner Dima Popov said. Hong Kong, for instance, has no sales tax and is closer to component suppliers.

Popov buys display cards, motherboards and power supplies in Hong Kong and mines cryptocurrencies in Russia, where electricity is cheaper and the climate is more suitable.

The demand for the rigs has added a new dimension to Asia’s tech shopping hubs whose once bustling business fizzled out in recent years hit by waning demand for personal computers. Storefronts that once catered mostly to locals, selling phones and other consumer gear, are now greeting foreign visitors searching for hardware that might make them rich. 

[Toxic2040]

The largest investment in ASIC mining hardware by any company to date, however, was that from the GMO Group, the largest Internet Service provider in Japan, and owner of the country’s leading Forex market exchange and bitcoin exchange

https://bravenewcoin.com/news/the-bitcoin-mining-hardware-race-is-on/

Where a majority of new ASIC's will be made.
https://www.anandtech.com/show/12377/tsmc-starts-to-build-fab-18-5nm-in-early-2020

ASIC manufactures.
http://anysilicon.com/vendor_category/foundries/
Main players
TSMC
GlobalFoundries
Samsung
Intel

This gets talked about in the hardware section quite a bit. Not about Apple and Samsung per say but who is making what where. What a lot of people dont realize is that there is literally only a couple of places that actually make chips.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2166292.0

[BitMaxz]

Miners will switch soon to samsung ASIC chips if ever they made a hardware miner And i think Samsung is much durable compare to antminer if ever samsung made a perfect hardware for mining.
I don't believe to Apple if they can make a low cost mining rig in the future. Look at their iphone's and accessories are more expensive so i don't think they can give us a mining rig which is more faster and more cheaper than the other competitors.

[Kemarit]

It seems that Samsung is developing an ASIC chip for mining, and they are talking to Apple with a view to producing a low cost mining rig. If this happens, what effect do you think it will have on the crypto markets?

The way I understand it, Samsung is developing ASIC chip not for them, but for a Chinese company which is unnamed(I will assumed that its Bitmain). So they are not really building mining hardware itself and I don't think that they will join the bandwagon. I haven't heard about the Apple talks though. On the contrary, I don't think though that there might be a impact on the current price, on the contrary it will be more expensive because Bitmain will have to pay its supplier Samsung a few dollars so that's another overhead cost. I think Japan's GMO though not only producing in own chips but manufacturing its mining hardware gear. That would be a game changer. Let's see how it goes but they haven't release any statement yet. And at least Bitmain will have a competition by then.