new Proto Rig Miner launched by Block

So today, they just showed off the new Proto Rig miner at Core Scientific's place, and it got a lot of buzz. The idea is pretty solid: they’ve got this software called Proto Fleet that’s open source, and the miner itself is modular and works with older setups (so you won’t need those extra power supplies, fans, or cases when you're updating). Here are the key specs: - 9.4 kw/ft density, which is top-notch - efficiency as low as 14.1 j/th - you get 20% savings with each upgrade cycle If you wanna dig deeper into the presentation and the hardware details, check these links out:

The design is neat, it reminds me of server rack. I don't mine Bitcoin, but the efficiency alone isn't very competitive when Antminer S21 XP have 13.5 J/TH and upcoming Antminer S23 claimed to have 11 J/TH.

indeed, it has similarities to a server rack (as you can also see on one of the pictures) here are more pictures of the presentation and other specs.

Bitmain gears have always been more efficient than Whatsminers but the latter sells very well due to the quality built, 1 or 2 watts isn't going to be a deal breaker, however, this thing looks very expensive, I do not see how would it compare with the Chinese made gears, probably 50% more expensive. It's possible that with the U.S tax these will complete in U.S market but nothing much elsewhere. oh ya, with 9 hashboard that's 50kg heavy, most people can't carry much weight

The issue with this miner, which is impressive on paper, is the real-world availability. Bitmain is a near monopoly for a reason. It has a very deep relationship with many mining companies and an incredible supply chain. It will be difficult for Block to enter the race for Mining Hardware.

Design? I see 3 ASICs in one box:) This is industrial equipment, who needs design? What matters here is ease of maintenance and quality of products. As an engineer, I am concerned with only one question. If one board breaks and I take it out and give it for repair, will the ASIC work without this board?

I guess the modular approach allowing on-the-fly substitution of hashboards was one of the exact points of this...design. https://proto.xyz/blog/posts/the-end-of-downtime-in-bitcoin-mining I guess this answer your question.

Hopefully this is allowed. Started a FaceBook Group to post stuff on the Proto Miner by Block. I myself 'hope' as they have stated to have some smaller btc miners for home use and fun vs just the $5k and above units you can upgrade. Time will tell. Here is the link (hopefully allowed) https://www.facebook.com/groups/1499954261206532 If the above link is stripped just search the name on Facebook Proto Miner Bitcoin User's Group (https://proto.xyz) Public group   · 2 members thanks Brad

It is nice to know you are still around. I will check out the Facebook link

No Tariff. The chip is the only thing from overseas...supposedly...all else made in the state of Georgia, USA. The County there has 7% sales tax though. Also I will only get into data hall btc mining again, IF, the bills pass to make miner income taxed goes away...and only the sale of btc is taxed in USA. In the USA Capital Gain Tax is 15% and my states tax on top of that (Minnesota) is 10%....or 25% Though IF the tax law code keeps hardware deductions and electric, portion of rent/lease/biz expenses at 25% off gross income made??? I could maybe sell enough btc in a year to even out taking out a bit for a 25% equiv deduction off hardware price to boot (at least on paper maybe) lots of ifs though on this...all legislation of any kind in the USA may not pass this fall due to gridlock...so I give it 50/50 odds later brad

sent a link to your PM..yeah I should not get on every 3 years or so.... but again will only get into data halls stuff again (maybe) if the income from mining daily goes away and btc/crypto is only taxed on selling I can't even imagine what difficulty would be and what HODL'ing would happen among the big btc/crypto data farms on such..with all that incentive to HODL and just cash out for electric and expenses....I assume the data halls will fill up with bulk orders on these proto miners first...so may have to watch that like what was it 2015 or some such..you'd so a pre-order on a btc or crypto miner ...6 month it arrived in 9 months you mined for 6 months and your btc/crypto unit was a brick due to massive difficulty rise? I 'missed' (lucky) getting knc neptunes back then..in that is what happend to them...although if you were in HODL since then on what your neptune mined and you ate the electric you'd be golden today but difficulty with btc when if these units hit....with NO tariff.....is gonna be kinda epicly large IMHO so anyway just watching this thread and the proto miner FB page I made at this time to be supportive...at least Block is trying something decentralized and more fair IMHO so far anyway. later brad

i posted on facebook. this gear looks like the end of mining for me. if it sells 810th at 4500 usd and it gives 14 watts a th  it means that the diff will double. the key is will price rise to 235k in the next year.

Supposedly....Block with proto mining plans to make hobby or home units..... maybe that will be worth while... but yeah...I figure if the no income on mined btc/crypto anymore comes to pass in the USA...proto miner or not.... difficulty will probably way more than double with the incentive for big miners to HODL and just cover expenses.....an easier way to ride any pump in BTC, rather then sell and pay income tax and HODL....not needed... and still allowed to take a loss on expenses on any dump of btc price win/win for the big guys brad

hopefully they allow cc buys. or maybe altairtech.io will carry them. I no longer buy gear with btc. only on a cc with a year to pay it with no interest.

Without pricing listed I assume the early adopter is in for a lashing....

catch is they seem to be sold out at $2k more than retail for sept 2025 that are shipping likely it will be 2026 for the next batch...also all likely big bulk buys us little guys don't see so....may have missed the boat... my hope is as they say they will have puny smaller hobby miners for fun but again with paying tax on mining income and then tax on when you sell in the USA likely I won't play with this anyway brad

well this could be why the hash rate jumped 5% 2 jumps in a row. at 4500 to 6500 a unit even though they are 14 watts a they they are dirt cheap compared to the bitmain s21xp  which is 6100 for 270th and does around 13 watts so 810th for say 6500 burning 14 watts means 11.3 to 12 kwatts the s21xp is 6100 x 3 =18,300  burning 13 watts or 10.5 to 11 kwatts. but you lay out 12,000 more for the same hash power and maybe you save a kwatt an hour or 8400kwatts a year at 10 cent power you save 840 bucks it takes 15 years to make up the price. I could not figure out why the hash rate jumped so much .. it is pretty obvious it is these units. they crush the s21xp if you have 10 cent or less power. they also will crush the s23 if you have ten cent power.

For this gear to contribute a 5% increase in hashrate of nearly 1ZH/s we are talking about 80k gears sold and running, that number is too huge for a newly made model, I find it hard to believe they made and sold that many gears.

they could be 30k units or 24,300,000 th that would be 24,300 ph or 24.3 eh the rest could be other miners.

Again,for me it is an 'interesting' thought experiment i'll only consider something like this, again, if they get rid of income tax on crypto mined daily this fall (maybe) as the norm in the USA and the fact that made in USA so no tariff and only the 7% sales tax where it made in a particular county of the Georgia, or so says Google. i also have a buddy with a data hall so that helps with 'supposedly' somewhat sane electric prices another better angle that is a LOT of ifs yet... i also at least like the open source concept as such for a change but hey....stuff to do/think about for fun as of now as an aside anyone know what the warranty would be on these proto miners? anyway....lurking is all I'm doing for probably more than a few months on this brad