Intel kills its crypto chip after less than a year
Despite shipping its first bitcoin-mining chip last June, Intel discontinued it less than a year later without announcing its replacement, according to Tom’s Hardware.
It seems Intel has already abandoned crypto chips after promoting the idea last February. The company dodged a question from Tom’s Hardware about whether it would pull out of the Bitcoin ASIC market, saying only, “We continue to monitor market opportunities.”
As it turns out, Intel’s timing was unfortunate. Between the announcement of the chip and the shipping of the chip, Bitcoin had fallen more than half, from over $47,000 per coin to under $19,000 each. Although Bitcoin has climbed from its November lows to over $30,000 just today, it remains below $20,000 right now.
There is a possibility, however, that Bitcoin will not be enough to restore its confidence. In mid-2022, the tech industry looked very different from what it does today: A major crypto winter has shaken confidence in blockchain technology, AI has become the hottest new investment, and nearly every tech company – including Intel – is tightening its belts and eliminating less-than-core businesses.
As part of its plan to reduce costs across its organization, Intel’s CEO has made a public announcement that they plan to cut $8–10 billion in expenditures by 2025. Intel recently announced the end of its pre-built server business, and the company confirmed in March it would exit its cellular modem business – no more 5G or LTE from Intel.
In March, Raja Koduri, Intel’s graphics architect and project leader for this crypto chip initiative, left the company.
