Intel Reveals Plans to Cease Production of Bitcoin Mining Chips Introduced Last Year

• The company has assured that the last shipments will take place by April 20, 2024, at the latest.
• It will halt production to focus on its IDM 2.0 initiatives.

Intel’s announcement on Tuesday regarding the cessation of its flagship Bitcoin mining chip production took the cryptocurrency community and the broader crypto-mining sector by surprise. Additionally, the company has assured that the last shipments will take place by April 20, 2024, at the latest.

Intel has revealed that it will stop accepting orders for its Blockscale series of mining processors, which were introduced just last year, effective October 20. In mid-2022, it was disclosed that the company would start providing Bitcoin mining services to clients including Argo Blockchain (ARBK), Block (SQ), Griid Infrastructure, and Hive Blockchain (HIVE).

Concentrating on IDM 2.0 Initiatives

Intel has stated that it will discontinue the production of Blockscale ASICs to focus on its IDM 2.0 initiatives. This decision aligns with the company’s recent trend of stepping back from various ventures amid a comprehensive restructuring and reorganization.

IDM 2.0 outlines Intel’s strategy to increase the number of businesses that acquire its semiconductors and to enhance the company’s own manufacturing of smaller, faster processors. While it continues to support its Blockscale clients, the Intel Blockscale 1000 Series ASIC has reached the end of its lifecycle as the focus shifts to IDM 2.0.

The company remarked:

“As we prioritize our investments in IDM 2.0, we have end-of-lifed the Intel Blockscale 1000 Series ASIC while we continue to support our Blockscale customers.”

In response to Tom’s Hardware’s inquiry about whether they intended to cease the production of Bitcoin ASICs entirely, the company stated, “We continue to monitor market opportunities.”