Latest news with #ThomasTempleton
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Jack Dorsey's Block Reveals Modular Bitcoin Mining Rigs That Can Be Upgraded
Jack Dorsey's fintech Block has released its latest Bitcoin product: a long-lasting mining rig with swappable parts, which will enable miners to cut costs on repairing and replacing the high-powered computing devices. Announcing the product Thursday, Block said the machine, dubbed Proto Rig, will last 10 years instead of the typical three-to-five-year lifespan. Proto Rig's design means that engineers can upgrade individual parts of the machine—like hashboards—without buying a new rig entirely. Block said that the new rig would cut costs for miners by 15-20% each upgrade cycle. "Machines break often, are hard to repair, expensive and time-consuming to upgrade, and don't make the most efficient use of power or space," Thomas Templeton, hardware lead at Block, said in a statement. "With Rig, we set out to change all of that—and contribute to hardware decentralization in the process." The new product comes as the cost of mining has increased and the rewards for verifying transactions on the blockchain have become more difficult to earn. Last year's halving cut the payoff for miners to 3.125 BTC from 6.25 BTC. Mining is notoriously difficult and energy consuming, with industrial miners running warehouses full of mining rigs. In its most recent quarter, MARA Holdings, the world's largest company in the category by BTC mined, reported a 505% increase in net income, and other miners reported strong results—but these companies have benefited from the price gains of their Bitcoin holdings. The underlying challenges they face are likely to continue, experts say, and a number of these firms have already pivoted their resources toward AI; or in the case of BitMine Immersion and Bit Digital, become Ethereum treasuries. U.S. President Donald Trump has said that he wants all future Bitcoin minted in the States—a likely impossible task. Many mining machines are made in China, but Dorsey has said he wants to change that by producing them in the U.S. Dorsey, who founded Twitter (now X) before leaving in 2021 to focus his efforts on payments and Bitcoin adoption, has said he wants the virtual coin to be the global currency. He has also described Satoshi Nakamoto's Bitcoin white paper as "poetry." Square Begins Bitcoin Payments for Sellers as Block Stock Hits S&P 500 Block's other companies—like Square and Cash App—have released Bitcoin products, including a crypto hardware wallet, Bitkey. Square's payment terminals also allow merchants to accept Bitcoin payments, though that feature is still rolling out broadly. Block's stock (NYSE: XYZ) was trading about 1% lower on Thursday, according to Yahoo Finance. The company, which joined the S&P 500 in July, is up more than 10% over the past month but down over 12% year-to-date. Bitcoin was recently trading at about $118,200, down nearly 3% over the past 24 hours after hitting a new all-time high mark above $124,000 on Wednesday. The largest cryptocurrency by market cap has risen more than 25% since the start of 2025. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Business Wire
4 days ago
- Business
- Business Wire
Block Unveils Proto Rig and Proto Fleet, Marking a New Era in Bitcoin Mining
DALTON, Ga.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Block, Inc. (NYSE: XYZ) today unveiled Proto Rig, a first-of-its-kind modular bitcoin mining system, and Proto Fleet, a free and open-source fleet management software. The announcement, made during an event held at Proto customer Core Scientific's facility in Dalton, GA, where Proto Rigs are mining as part of their fleet, represents a significant step toward decentralizing bitcoin mining hardware, opening access to more builders, and increasing network resiliency. These mark the first two end-to-end releases by Proto, Block's suite of bitcoin mining products and services, following its initial chip sale to Core Scientific. Proto Rig: Durable, repairable, upgradeable infrastructure Moving away from disposable hardware models, Proto Rig is designed to be infrastructure—a paradigm shift that solves many existing pain points for miners and signals the company's long-term commitment to the industry. Proto Rig's modular design lets operators upgrade individual hashboards without replacing entire units, transforming what has historically been a 3-5 year disposable asset into a 10-year infrastructure investment, reducing costs by 15-20% each upgrade cycle. It also allows for easy, in-place, tool-free repair, turning a process that can take hours, days, or weeks into one that takes seconds, saving miners valuable time and resources. 'Mining hardware hasn't really changed in years,' said Thomas Templeton, Hardware Lead at Block. ' Machines break often, are hard to repair, expensive and time-consuming to upgrade, and don't make the most efficient use of power or space. With Rig, we set out to change all of that–and contribute to hardware decentralization in the process.' With unmatched power density and maximum miner uptime, Proto Rig delivers 1.5 times the power per foot of rack space compared to traditional mining hardware. Designed to be compatible with modern and legacy infrastructure, Proto Rig gives mining operators the power to maximize efficiency in their existing facilities without requiring extensive retrofitting, addressing long-standing challenges in power utilization and lifecycle management. Proto Fleet: Comprehensive, open source, and free Alongside Proto Rig, Block also announced Proto Fleet, comprehensive, open-source fleet management software that brings together power-scaling, monitoring, diagnostics, and maintenance tools in a single, intuitive platform. 'Mining hasn't really caught up with advances in software more broadly,' said Templeton. ' We saw an opportunity to make mining software something modern that improves operational efficiency instead of unnecessarily complicating things.' Proto Fleet brings together many functionalities that have historically required their own, individual pieces of software to manage, helping miners streamline operations, maximize uptime, and minimize time spent troubleshooting. A big part of Proto's effort to decentralize mining, Proto Fleet will be available for anyone to use, at no cost, giving mining operators of all sizes access to powerful fleet management software. All of these advancements together—on-rack, tool-free repairability, high-quality components, swappable hashboards, and backwards compatibility—mean more uptime across install, repairs, upgrades, and ultimately the life of the machine. The reveal of both products builds on Block's long track record of building transformational technology and rounds out the company's broader commitment to bitcoin across Square, Cash App, Bitkey, and Spiral. For more information about Proto Rig and Proto Fleet, visit About Proto Proto Global, LLC, as an affiliate of Block, Inc. is Block's suite of bitcoin mining products and services. Its mission is to decentralize mining by increasing access to tools for builders, regardless of their size or location. By entering the mining hardware space, Proto is taking a key step toward that goal. Learn more at About Block Block, Inc. builds technology to increase access to the global economy. Each of our brands unlocks different aspects of the economy for more people. Square makes commerce and financial services accessible to sellers. Cash App is the easy way to spend, send, and store money. Afterpay is transforming the way customers manage their spending over time. TIDAL is a music platform that empowers artists to thrive as entrepreneurs. Bitkey is a simple self-custody wallet built for bitcoin. Proto is a suite of bitcoin mining products and services. Together, we're helping build a financial system that is open to everyone.
