Bitcoin Mining Rig Maker MicroBT Unveils Most Powerful Machine Yet

The Chinese rig maker's new model can deliver 320 TH/s, outperforming competitor Bitmain's equivalent machine lineup.

AccessTimeIconMay 18, 2023 at 8:30 p.m. UTC
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Bitcoin mining machine manufacturer, MicroBT, unveiled three new mining rigs today at Bitcoin2023 conference in Miami, one of them being the most powerful currently available on the market.

One of the new models, WhatsMiner M53S++, delivers 320 terahash per second (TH/s) of computing power with efficiency of 22 joules per terahash (J/T). It is more powerful than rival Bitmain's equivalent, the Antminer S19 XP Hydro, which delivers up to 257 TH/s, but less efficient that the Bitmain model, which can run at 20.8 J/T, the company's founder and CEO Zuoxing Yang said.

The other two models were the M50S++, designed for air-cooling and with computing power of 150 TH/s, and the M56S++, designed for immersion cooling, which can deliver up to 230 TH/s. Both machines have an efficiency of 22 J/TH.

The rig maker's motivation for the new machines were mainly to utilize sustainable source of energy, amid heated debate over enormous power usage by the miners. "Faced with the energy crisis and global warming, Dr. Yang believes that the power source for bitcoin mining needs to be upgraded by finding better solutions like green energy," the firm said in a press release.

On that front, MicroBT is also working on adjusting the voltage and frequency of the WhatsMiner so that it can be better suited for solar power use, a source of energy that Yang thinks is a match for the decentralization of the bitcoin network.

He also pointed out that over 90% of the heat generated from the mining machines can be collected which then can be used for various other uses, including space heating, steam for industry and fish hatchery.

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Eliza Gkritsi

Eliza Gkritsi is a CoinDesk contributor focused on the intersection of crypto and AI.


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