Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) and HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd (NASDAQ: HIVE) have inked a supply agreement. As per the deal, HIVE will acquire ASIC chips from Intel that will be used in their new custom mining devices. HIVE anticipates that the new devices will nearly double its aggregate Bitcoin mining hash rate from 1.9 to 3.8 Exahashes per second (Eh/s).
HIVE negotiated for the new devices to be manufactured by a third-party custom design company, ODM, which will include Intel CPUs into new air-cooled Bitcoin (BTC) mining machines. The chips would also lower the energy usage of mining operations by 15%, according to Intel's patent for the Bonanza Mine chips. Because of the lower power consumption, HIVE may be able to utilize more devices, allowing it to provide even more hash rates.
Furthermore, HIVE aims to be a technical leader in the crypto-mining space, stretching the limits in research and development projects, as well as hash rate analytics, to maximize operational efficiency and return on invested capital. Intel's high-performance and energy-efficient blockchain accelerator are anticipated to consume less energy than current ASIC miners on the market.
In addition, HIVE is thrilled to confirm that it has inked a non-binding Letter of Intent (LOI) with Compute North have. Compute North, the industry leader in long-term, large-scale computing infrastructure, is rapidly increasing its footprint in the United States, with the construction of several additional sites. Moreover, Compute North is contemplating a 100 MW installation at one of its renewable energy locations in Texas. All regulatory approvals, including the TSX Venture Exchange's approval, are required for the transactions contemplated under the LOI to be completed.