Blockstream, a Bitcoin infrastructure firm, is set to launch its long-awaited Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) miner in the third quarter of 2024, according to Blockstream CEO and co-founder Adam Back during the company’s first ever media briefing on Tuesday. The miner was originally slated for a 2022 launch, but Back now anticipates having the miner available in the latter half of 2024.
There’s two rough approaches to manufacturing. One is to do a shakedown run first, which is kind of a test run, Back said during the briefing. So that would put the miner into sort of Q3 next year roughly.
Blockstream acquired Israeli mining hardware manufacturer Spondoolies in 2021, and brought the manufacturer’s core team into Blockstream’s mining division, which is headed by Chris Cook with former Spondoolies CEO Assaf Gilboa serving as executive vice president. In January 2023, Blockstream raised $125 million to expand mining operations, and plans to raise even more capital to fund its mining business.
Besides mining, Blockstream’s other projects such as Liquid, a federated sidechain or secondary blockchain that interacts with the primary Bitcoin blockchain, and Jade, Blocksteam’s flagship hardware bitcoin (BTC) wallet, were also discussed during the briefing.