Payments Giant Block to Build Open-Source Bitcoin Mining System
The payment services company formerly known as Square is open to building new mining computers and is hiring for a new engineering team.
Jan 13, 2022 at 10:58 p.m. UTCUpdated May 11, 2023 at 7:14 p.m. UTC
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Block, formerly known as payments company Square, is going ahead with its plan to build an open-source bitcoin mining system, according to a Tweet from Thomas Templeton, Block's general manager for hardware.
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- “We want to make mining more distributed and efficient in every way, from buying, to set up, to maintenance, to mining,” Templeton tweeted.
- He also tweeted the company is open to making new ASICs (specialized bitcoin mining computers), and has started evaluating various IP blocks, open-source miner firmware and other system software offerings.
- Block has started hiring to build out a core engineering team.
- Previously, Block CEO Jack Dorsey tweeted on Oct. 15 that the company was planning to build a mining system based on custom silicon and open source for individuals and businesses worldwide.
- Dorsey has been an enthusiastic supporter of bitcoin, believing the cryptocurrency has great potential.
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Aoyon Ashraf is managing editor with more than a decade of experience in covering equity markets