Bitmain, a major global manufacturer of Bitcoin (BTC) application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), has officially released its new air-cooled BTC miner, the Antminer T21.
Bitmain took to Twitter on Oct. 26 to announce the world premiere of the new Antminer T21, the firm’s new air-cooling miner that can withstand ambient temperatures up to 45 degrees Celsius.
According to Bitmain’s head of marketing, Xmei Lin, the Antminer T21’s global release happened at the Blockchain Life 2023 Forum in Dubai, where Bitmain was a “diamond sponsor.”
Bitmain’s brand-new mining device is expected to start shipping in January 2024, the company’s spokesperson told Cointelegraph. The air-cooling miner supports the SHA256 mining algorithm used for mining proof-of-work (PoW) cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, as well as forked coins like Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Bitcoin SV (BSV). The T21 provides a computing power of 190 terahashes per second and an energy efficiency ratio of 19 joules per terahash.
At the event, Bitmain also offered Antminer T21 buyers an opportunity to get Bitmain’s price protection plan, which is designed to support miners in case of a decline in cryptocurrency prices. Available until Nov. 25, 2023, the plan allows customers to be protected against the downside fluctuation of BTC price for a period of one month, three months or six months.
Customers will get compensation in cash if the BTC price falls below the strike for any reference day within the protected period, the firm said, adding that compensation shall be paid “immediately upon the triggering event.”
Antminer T21 is one of Bitmain’s several mining devices, produced alongside a wide diversity of ASIC miners by other firms like Canaan, MicroBT, Bitfury and others.
Chinese Canaan (formerly known as Avalon) was among the first firms in the world to release a Bitcoin mining ASIC in January 2013, which enabled consumers to mine cryptocurrency on a mass scale due to a significant boost in hashing power compared to GPU and CPU setups.
Related: Bitcoin ASIC manufacturer Bitmain pauses employee salary payments: Report
Ten years after releasing its first mining device, Canaan still produces new mining machines. In mid-September, Canaan officially released its new A14 series miners on its 10th anniversary. On Oct. 26, Canaan launched its sustainability-focused A1466 and A1466I miners in the Middle East. The new miners feature liquid-cooled and air-cooled options.
Despite firms like Canaan and Bitmain rushing to introduce new mining devices, the ASIC industry has seen some challenges in recent years. As previously reported by Cointelegraph, ASIC miners’ price per terahash plummeted more than 80% from its peak in 2021 as of late 2022 amid new miners continuing to flood the market.
In August 2023, blockchain technology firm Blockstream sought to raise $50 million to purchase and store mining equipment on secondary markets in anticipation of the Bitcoin halving in 2024.
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