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Crypto mining company Hive Blockchain made a notable shift in the tech sector by removing “blockchain” from its name in July, rebranding itself as Hive Digital Technologies to highlight its venture into artificial intelligence.
This move is part of a broader trend among crypto miners to transition away from digital currency mining due to declining crypto prices. In January, Riot Blockchain rebranded as Riot Platforms, while in June, Applied Digital revealed a $460 million agreement to provide AI cloud computing services in its data center.
Since the conclusion of ETH mining in September 2022, $HIVE has been converting its fleet of 38,000 Nvidia GPUs from mining operations into cloud infrastructure, representing the next phase of our evolution into a diversified data center operator.
Read the latest HIVE Newsletter: https://t.co/raHqwMMalv pic.twitter.com/tHkVuLMtyT— HIVE Digital Technologies (@HIVEDigitalTech) August 17, 2023
In an interview with Cointelegraph, Hive Digital Technologies CEO Aydin Kilic and Chairman Frank Holmes emphasized that the company remains significantly engaged in Bitcoin and crypto mining, despite the rebranding.
They now perceive two emerging sectors—blockchain and AI—as nearly interdependent in the context of Web3 development, with Kilic asserting:
“Blockchain and AI can certainly co-exist — they’re both pillars of Web3.”
Kilic highlighted the fundamental distinctions between Web2 and Web3, suggesting that AI will enhance the user experience of Web3 over time.
“AI enables Web3 to be more adaptable. In Web2, you have all this metadata, but you sacrifice your privacy because major Internet companies are covertly collecting this data for their benefit,” Kilic stated.
“With blockchain, you maintain privacy and can control your own data. However, without that metadata, how can you achieve a curated web experience? That’s where AI comes into play to make it more responsive and intuitive. It all integrates seamlessly,” he elaborated.
“AI will have a role in Metaverses and DAOs. The entirety of Web3 is still in its early stages.”
“The actual application of these technological pillars in innovative ways that gain widespread acceptance remains to be seen,” he added.
Ethereum provided important insights
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Hive Digital Technologies was the first publicly traded crypto mining entity, establishing its initial Bitcoin mining facility in 2014 and going public three years later in 2017.
Holmes credited much of the company’s capacity to embrace new technologies to insights gained from mining both Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH).
“Our mining operations were significantly improved due to Ethereum mining. Mining Ethereum is not akin to driving a Jeep; it’s more like driving a Porsche, which is a much more delicate piece of equipment. You require twice as many workers compared to an ASIC,” he explained.
These insights were vital for understanding how to effectively pivot and ensure they possessed a sufficiently broad range of both product and technical expertise to capitalize on emerging technologies, Holmes noted.
Related: Hive Blockchain revenue declines by 44% Y/Y despite overall mining production surge
Rather than acquiring solely mining-focused chips, the Hive team opted for the more costly choice of purchasing chips that enabled dual processing—allowing the firm to mine while simultaneously providing high-performance computing services.
“One of our concerns was Ethereum’s shift from Proof of Work to Proof of Stake. Initially, we believed it would take longer, but we decided to invest in Nvidia chips. We made this decision nearly 18 months ago to pursue the development of our High Performance Center site alongside it.”
Crypto remains a priority
Kilic highlighted that the company continues to prioritize Bitcoin and crypto mining.
“Our Bitcoin production per exahash per month ranks among the highest in the industry. Currently, we are at four exahash and are aiming for six exahash for Bitcoin mining by the end of December this year.”
“Gradually, decentralized trust will be accepted as a new and effective trust model. We have seen this evolution of understanding before – on the internet.”
~Andreas Antonopoulos pic.twitter.com/BaeTztuWjS— HIVE Digital Technologies (@HIVEDigitalTech) August 17, 2023
Kilic also provided a comprehensive overview of how their fleet of 38,000 Nvidia GPUs is utilized in daily operations.
“Currently, 500 of them are engaged in either AI or HPC computing, while the remaining 37,500 cards continue to perform proof of work mining, utilizing a profit-switching algorithm that fluctuates daily. Essentially, we’re leveraging the GPU hash power to mine the most profitable coin each day,” Kilic explained.
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