Bitmain, Canaan Launch New Miners in Preparation for the Bitcoin Halving

This article was originally published by 8btc and written by Lylian Teng.

On October 9, 2019, the China-based cryptocurrency mining giant Bitmain launched its two latest Antminer 17 models to an eager market. On the very same day, another leading ASIC producer, Canaan, also rolled out its next-generation bitcoin miner A11 series.

Both new mining rigs from the top-two bitcoin miner manufacturers feature much higher hash rates and efficiencies than previous models, with Bitmain’s S17+ model delivering a hash rate of 73 terahashes per second (TH/s) operating at 40 joules per terahash (J/TH), and Canaan’s A1166 miner being capable of processing 73 TH/s with a power efficiency of 46 J/TH.

According to the announcement, Bitmain’s other new model, the T17+, offers a hash rate of 64 TH/s and power efficiency of 50 J/TH. Bitmain’s two new models will be available for purchase on October 11, 2019, and are scheduled to be shipped in the first 10 days of December 2019. The manufacturer had already released the Antminer S17e (64 TH/s, 45 J/TH) and T17e (53 TH/s, 55 J/TH) in September 2019, which were snapped up in minutes once made available for sale.

On the same day that Bitmain announced its latest models, Avalon maker Canaan also announced the launch of its most powerful miners, the 73 TH/s A1166, which operates at 46 J/T, and the 61 TH/s A1146, which operates at 55 J/T. According to Canaan Sales Director Chen Feng, the A11 models are not yet available to the public at the moment but only to some big buyers for fear of a delivery delay. So far, there are about 500,000 units of A10 and A11 in demand and the number is expected to surpass 1 million in 2020. Chen added that more powerful and efficient 7nm miners and miners with more advanced 5nm processors are on the way as well.

According to data from Asicminervalue.com, the Antminer S17 Pro (53 TH/s) is currently the most profitable miner and all of Bitmain’s latest S models are in the top-10 list of the most profitable miners in the market. The rest of the competitive mining machines in the top list include the Innosilicon T3+, StrongU U8 series, Whatsminer M20S and Ebit E11++.

With the introduction of the more efficient 70T mining rigs, bitcoin mining may be more difficult and less profitable for individual miners. Jihan Wu, co-founder of Bitmain, said at the recent World Digital Mining Summit that miners have to improve the efficiency of their mining equipment if the price of bitcoin stays unmoved after the halving expected in May 2020.

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