The fabless semiconductor manufacturer HashFast Technologies today announced that they will start manufacturing their application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) mining chip, the Golden Nonce (GN). Uniquify has been signed to layout and manufacture the extreme performance chip that will be housed in their Baby Jet rig.
The 28nm chip performs 400 gigahashes per second and consumes less than 1.0 watts per gigahertz. If users wish, they can underclock the GN chip to maximize power saving, or overclock it via on-die thermal controls for maximum performance.
HashFast began taking orders for the Baby Jet, which houses the GN chip, at the beginning of August. The company took orders for over 50 percent of its inventory in the first week, and expects the Baby Jet to sell out completely before the end of the month.
“With the HashFast ASIC chips, we’re looking at a full-scale transformation of existing Bitcoin mining,” says Simon Barber, HashFast founder. “This allows the mining of Bitcoin at rates far beyond existing technology.”
Bitcoins are generated using a competitive search for a solution to a resource-intensive calculation. How fast you generate these Bitcoins is determined by the processing power of your mining rig and the wattage it takes to run it.
Current estimates show that most Bitcoin miners are consuming in excess of $150,000 in power costs each day. That means the mining process is more expensive than the value of the Bitcoin being extracted: not a good situation to be in.
HashFast is not even a year old at this point, but if the GN chip is as successful as they say it will be, the Bitcoin world will be looking to crown them champions. Bringing high mining power with the lowest energy costs around bodes well for them as they prepare to ship their first Baby Jets soon.