Cryptocurrency continues to grow in popularity and value. With a market cap in the hundreds of billions, governments, companies, and the general public are all taking notice. It seems as if a Korean tech giant is looking to get a piece of the Bitcoin pie as well, with rumors that the Samsung’s cryptocurrency mining hardware is in development.
Samsung’s Cryptocurrency Mining Hardware
The recent report claims that Samsung’s cryptocurrency mining technology are ASICS, or Application-specific integrated circuit hardware that is optimized for mining Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and Ripple.
Samsung has yet to actually enter the cryptocurrency industry, but it shouldn’t be too long until they’ve become a major player in the Bitcoin mining scene. While many individuals are mining bitcoin on their PC, Samsung’s cryptocurrency mining hardware will likely see the most application with a Chinese mining device provider, reports South Korean news outlet The Bell. This unnamed firm will also redistribute Samsung’s cryptocurrency hardware to other mining outfits.
Although this is the first news we have of Samsung officially entering the cryptocurrency mining scene, we had seen a concept device from the company in October of last year representing an experimental mining rig built from 40 old Galaxy S5 phones. Just a few months later, Samsung reportedly signed a deal with the Russian-based Bitcoin mining hardware firm Baikal that will be a major customer for Samsung’s cryptocurrency mining hardware in addition to the Chinese mining outfit.
With how big cryptocurrency has become, Samsung isn’t the only existing company looking to capitalize on the big boom. Technology company Kodak has also revealed their own version of mining hardware. However, we anticipate that Samsung is in a better position to apply their cryptocurrency mining technology on a larger scale and supply a large audience of corporations and individuals looking to outfit themselves with mining hardware.
The Bitcoin Craze
Despite the recent cryptocurrency crash, the hype around Bitcoin and other virtual coins continues to grow. With low prices, many people are looking to buy while the currency is more affordable, and there are actually a shortage of GPUs as cryptocurrency miners snatch up all the graphics cards that are available. NVIDIA and AMD stock continues to rise due to increased demand for their products, but they’re having trouble keeping up with demand and supplying their more traditional market: PC gamers.
While mining coins like Ripple and Bitcoin remains profitable at this point, the investment in Samsung’s cryptocurrency hardware may not pay off for these individuals and organizations if the price continues to plummet. Due to the volatility surrounding cryptocurrency because of its lack of a real-world entity to help determine value, it’s certainly possible that this crash could be a continued downturn that would render the hardware useless. Samsung and Kodak seem to be optimistic about the future of cryptocurrency, however, as evidenced by the development of the hardware and deals with large mining outfits. Despite the huge cryptocurrency crash, however, values are up across the board when compared to the same time last year. It looks like virtual cryptocurrency is here to stay, and Samsung’s cryptocurrency mining hardware has the potential to supply a market that is outstripping demand.
