The hype around cryptocurrencies may have come down a bit, but there is still enough interest in the idea and technology behind it for many companies to get involved and make money. As the world’s largest semiconductor company, Samsung also saw an opportunity and entered the cryptocurrency market earlier this year by making ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) chips for mining hardware firms.
It appears Samsung Semiconductor has found a new customer in Canada. Squire, a Canadian Bitcoin mining firm has announced that it has signed a deal with Samsung for manufacturing ASIC chips. ASIC mining chips are designed to make crypto mining faster and more power-efficient, making them ideal for mining rigs. Squire develops specialized mining equipment and is a competitor to Bitmain, a leading player in the mining hardware space.
Samsung's push into cryptocurrency market
“On August 1, 2018, we announced that Squire had engaged an undisclosed arm’s length design fabrication firm to perform the back-end design, testing and initial mass production run of our next generation ASIC chip for mining Bitcoin. We are delighted that we are now able to disclose Gaonchips as our design house and Samsung Electronics as our foundry partner,” Squire said in a press release. No other details about the agreement are made public, and Samsung is yet to make a formal announcement of the deal.
Samsung hasn’t been very aggressive in catering to the crypto industry, probably due to the volatility and uncertainty associated with it. It is also possible the company doesn’t see this market as a substantial and sustainable source of revenue to be more involved, at least at this point in time. Its slow push into this space puts it in competition with the Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC, who has been active in the crypto mining industry far longer.
