Bitcoin-focused fintech company Block Inc. has introduced a new cryptocurrency mining system designed to extend the lifespan of mining rigs and lower operational costs — a potential boost for miners facing steep capital expenditures to maintain facilities.

At the center of the launch is Proto Rig, a modular system that replaces the traditional three-to-five-year mining rig life cycle with hardware built to last a decade or more, Block announced Thursday.

Instead of discarding entire units, miners can swap out individual hashboards as technology improves, potentially cutting upgrade costs by up to 20% per cycle.

Block also debuted Proto Fleet, an open-source fleet management platform for large-scale mining operations.

The announcement builds on Block’s recent push into the mining hardware space. In April 2024, the company developed a 3-nanometer Bitcoin mining chip, and later that year signed a supply agreement with Core Scientific.

According to Cointelegraph, Bitcoin mining remains a capital-intensive industry, with professional-grade rigs often costing more than $10,000 — not including the substantial electricity required to run them. 

At current prices, mining companies are producing more than $50 million worth of Bitcoin (BTC) each day, though profitability ultimately hinges on variables such as electricity costs, mining difficulty and hardware efficiency. 

The initial industry response to Proto Rig has been largely positive, with Komodo Platform’s chief technology officer, Kadan Stadelmann, telling Cointelegraph that Block’s “open-source approach aligns with Bitcoin’s original decentralized ethos.”

“Traditional mining rigs last three to five years, and then get tossed into the landfill. Miners are forced to pay for constant upgrades from monopoly hardware producers like Bitmain,” Stadelmann said, adding:

“Block has offered a modular design for Bitcoin miners. The hardware is designed to last longer, and offers more power per rack foot, which democratizes Bitcoin mining — something the industry has needed for more than a decade.”

Related: ARK Invest buys $19M of Jack Dorsey’s Block as stock tumbles to $73

Bitcoin miners are cashing in on the AI boom

Several mining firms have sought to boost revenue by repurposing their infrastructure for other workloads, including high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence. Others have opted to retain their mined Bitcoin in anticipation of further price increases. 

Before its acquisition, Core Scientific exemplified how a struggling Bitcoin miner could pivot to artificial intelligence to revive its business. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2022 during the bear market, then secured a $3.5 billion lifeline from CoreWeave less than two years later.

In July, CoreWeave acquired Core Scientific in a $9 billion transaction.

Meanwhile, Hive Digital, a cryptocurrency miner, began pivoting into high-performance computing and AI in 2022, with HPC revenues appearing on its income statement the following year. Since then, the company has accelerated its push into these sectors while remaining bullish on its Bitcoin mining operations.

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