The cryptocurrency market has reached such a high level so quickly that less than a year later, as we return to this area around $ 64295.10 for Bitcoin, a large number of investors are seized with sudden fear. These late-breaking crypto investors were scared that Bitcoin would drop, and fear is akin to falling prices into the depths of an abyss. Unfortunately, these crypto enthusiasts do not seem to understand the mysterious forces that help to govern the market value of Bitcoin. In contrast, these forces are invariably linked to FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt) / Bullish (bullish news in finance) type news or outright manipulation of the cryptocurrency market.<h3 id="how-does-cryptocurrency-market-manipulation-work">How Does Cryptocurrency Market Manipulation Work?</h3>SpoofingDespite the more than complex nature of the cryptocurrency market and the financial market in general, the most common and effective form of market manipulation turns out to be reasonably straightforward. All you need to manipulate the price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is much money.This method is known as "Spoofing." It often happens that spoofing maneuvers are detected on cryptocurrency exchanges. The lower a market's trading volumes, the easier it becomes to manipulate it. Thus, even though Bitcoin has the highest trade volume, its price manipulation is much easier than the traditional financial market, where volumes reach much higher levels.Many Wall Street experts and the crypto trader Ronnie Moas have thus repeatedly alerted to these price manipulations in the world of cryptocurrencies. Ronnie Moas gives a typical example of manipulation via spoofing:"If you have $ 2 billion, you want a diversified portfolio. To me, diversified is a $ 200,000 position, but there can be a $ 200 million position because you want 10% of your money invested in Bitcoin. But you don't want to pay $ 20,000 for a Bitcoin, so what you do - and that can apply to a Whale (the famous Bitcoin Whales), a Cartel, a Shark, a Consortium, a Trading group - you're swinging between $ 20 million and $ 40 million in the market, and you put pressure on the sell. People see these orders in the order book in front of them. They're going to jump into the trap because they're going to be afraid that you move and shake up the market, and then the phenomenon feeds on itself. "This is the easiest method in a relatively young and unregulated cryptocurrency market, but it is also illegal. The United States government even recently launched an investigation into manipulating the cryptocurrency market, focusing mainly on spoofing.LayeringLayering is very similar to spoofing but with slightly different intentions. Access to the order book as well as its analysis in a short time allows this strategy. Traders who practice layering will place many orders at critical prices in the order book in the hope of reserving key positions in advance. So what's wrong with this strategy?As with spoofing, traders have no intention of making these trades. At most, they target one or two. While they don't necessarily inflate prices by transforming the public's perception of market demands, they do exactly that by placing (potentially massive) orders in the backlog. Charges that will never be satisfied. This leads investors to have a biased and distorted view of demand in the market, causing price manipulation, as in the case of spoofing. These two techniques can be used together and are, of course, completely illegal.Pumping and DumpingPump and dump movements are orchestrated through fake news or fake promotions. The idea is simple: the people behind these movements will accumulate large amounts of crypto before contacting famous people and influencers to discuss the cryptocurrency on social media. They will then pay unscrupulous media outlets to publish fake press releases, often in the form of supposedly neutral articles. In reality, these are covert advertisements.Once the pumping phase is finished, the next phase is the dump. However, this will only work if it is done at the same time. Naturally, there will be a price slippage, but manipulators cannot sell their coins slowly without significantly changing the market at the time of the price reversal. The only thing to do is sell everything simultaneously, adjusting the price entirely and getting rid of everyone who bought during the pumping phase. The latter continue to keep their positions and find themselves stuck.The opposite movement is known as the "Bear Raid." Manipulators will spread FUD-type news to instigate fear in the market and drive prices down.Chances are you've dealt with this kind of scare news without any factual basis. Once the price of the targeted cryptocurrency hits a low point, the Whales will proceed to buy, benefiting from that low price. Pump and dump and bear raiding strategies are considered frauds in traditional financial markets. <h3 id="is-the-bitcoin-market-being-manipulated">Is The Bitcoin Market Being Manipulated?</h3>Now that you have learned about four well-known techniques for manipulating the cryptocurrency market, the question that arises is quite simple: is the Bitcoin market being manipulated?What do you think? Asking the question is already a form of answer in itself. Have you never seen this fake news or these widely limited press releases? Do you remember mainstream media reporting scary upcoming events that ultimately never happen or promises of bullish news that have turned out to be false? Have you ever seen large buy orders placed in the order book canceled just before they expire?Out of all of these questions, chances are you have answered yes more than once. The U.S. investigation will likely reveal some additional and fascinating details. Still, you don't have to wait for the results of this investigation to know that the market has been well manipulated since the early days of Bitcoin. Instead, the real question is, how much did it make for these few Whales, and how much did it cost ordinary investors?Please share your opinion on the subject in the comments while sending us examples of fake news or FUD articles that have particularly caught your attention in recent months.

Bharggavi Ssayee

Premium reporting on technology, startups, VC funding, and software from Techfastly tagged with Business. Read about trends and strategies for Business.

Business

Market Manipulation of Cryptocurrencies

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are still generating excitement in the crypto sphere and even well beyond. We have only recently seen the crazy success of pre-registrations on the future Coinbase platform specializing in NFTs. This time, ShapeShift is creating the buzz in the NFT world, wanting to cause the extreme scarcity of one of its unique tokens.<h3 id="shapeshift-wants-to-destroy-65-of-the-stocks-of-an-nft">ShapeShift wants to destroy 65% of the stocks of an NFT</h3>Between digital art objects and collectible cards, NFTs sometimes elicit a euphoria bordering on hysteria. The prices of certain NFTs can thus explode towards astronomical sums.These are early NFTs (circa 2015) created by Spells of Genesis and donated to ShapeShift as part of their partnership supporting the development of their first blockchain-based games as shared by ShapeShift. Also, these could end up being some of the rarest and most historic NFTs of all time.Cryptocurrency exchange service ShapeShift announced in a post that it will contribute in its way to this sweet NFT madness. Its new decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) indeed intends to rarefy an existing collectible card in the form of a digital token.It is more precisely the card "ShapeShift, the Wanderer" (SHAPESHIFTCD), from the game "Spells of Genesis," and minted (created) in 2015 on the Counterparty (XCP) blockchain. Already one of the oldest NFTs in existence - CryptoKitties and CryptoPunks dating back to 2017 only - these tokens had only been issued in 1,000 copies, but that still seemed too much for ShapeShift:"The ShapeShift company plans to burn (destroy) 649 SHAPESHIFTCD in its possession (?), to keep 16 for sale in the name of the company by the end of the year and to donate the remaining 16 copies to the ShapeShift CAD treasury. "<h3 id="what-makes-an-nft-one-of-the-rarest-in-the-world">What makes an NFT one of the rarest in the world?</h3>By thus burning 649 of the 681 digital collectible cards in his possession, the purpose of ShapeShift is transparent and explained in his announcement: "[These cards] could end up being some of the rarest and most historic NFTs around. (?) These cards could thus prove to be a valuable and essential asset in ShapeShift's DAO treasury. "The idea that interprets the vote of the holders of FOX (the native token of the ShapeShift project) is to gradually unlock the cards owned by the DAO to benefit its cash flow over the long term.Of the 16 cards received by the decentralized organization, five would be immediately available for sale, five would not be on sale for one year, and six would not be salable for two years.If FOX owners decline this deal, no SHAPESHIFTCD will be distributed to ShapeShift DAO.However, the ShapeShift non-depository cryptocurrency exchange has burned hundreds of themed collectible "cards" from the Spells of Genesis blockchain-based mobile game. The team said the remnant cards in their possession would be placed under the control of their new Decentralized Autonomous Organization, or DAO, and released in limited installments over the next two years.According to the channel's data, ShapeShift has engraved close to 817 digital cards named "ShapeShift the Wanderer." This was followed by an October 12 announcement that the exchange intended to burn most cards for them to be"among the rarest [Spells of Genesis] cards in existence and among the earliest existing NFTs.There are now only 183 active editions, known on the channel as SHAPESHIFTCD. Many of these are assumed to be lost, eventually making it one of the rarest blockchain collectibles around.As per the exchange, the team plans to move the 32 remaining cards in his possession from the counterpart blockchain to the Ethereum blockchain on the Emblem Vault bridge, which permits crypto users to wrap the counterpart tokens as assets via ERC-721 and trade them on Ethereum via platforms Like OpenSea.ShapeShift will retain 16 cards for sale before 2022 and donate 16 to its DAO treasury of the unburned total. ShapeShift has reportedly said that they will unlock the cards in stages over the upcoming two years, but FOX token holders will vote whether DAO sells or HODL.Whether the DAO sells these NFTs for ETH, holds them for the long term, or combines them, they will become a valuable and essential asset in ShapeShift DAO treasury as per the exchange. Also, NFTs won't end up being beneficial and become a non-useful asset.The move seems to be an attempt to generate ad-hoc interest and take advantage of crypto trading cards, which will predate CryptoPunks and all of the NFT's remaining major offerings emerging from the recent boom. As Shaban Shaame, CEO of software company EverdreamSoft, Spells of Genesis cards are "not particularly easy to acquire," given their counterparty's blockchain location. However, the Emblem Vault bridge has paved a path for users to trade the tokens on Ethereum.

Premium reporting on technology, startups, VC funding, and software from Techfastly tagged with cryptocurrency. Read more on cryptocurrency.

Cryptocurrency

ShapeShift Hopes to Create ?Rarest and Most Historical? NFTs with 80% Trading Card Supply Burn

From utopian to dystopian, the scenarios of the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on our societies are varied. Which one will prevail? As stated by the Villani mission, such "are a delicate matter. Our governments and companies' leaders are struggling to define the necessary strategies for these different scenarios. Still, their mission is to combat the negative impact of AI and new technologies on our cognitive capacities.AI seeks to understand how human cognition gets interpreted by creating cognitive processes that mimic human beings. As a result, it has improved the speed, precision, and efficiency of the way we think and work.However, its prolonged use also weakens our cognitive abilities over time. Indeed, suppose we automate our cognitive tasks such as problem-solving and decision making. In that case, we reduce our innate or unaided capacity to "translate information into knowledge and knowledge into know-how" (1).There are growing case studies of the negative impact of AI and new technologies on a range of human cognitive abilities. For example, the constant use of computational systems that analyze and recommend courses of action could reduce the understanding of the competitive situation and the ability of leaders to develop medium and long-term strategies (2).In terms of spatial conceptualization skills, the constant use of computer-aided design software can reduce architects' sense of scale.The insidious, short-term decline in our capabilities can have serious, long-term consequences for human health, corporate governance, and city life, to name a few. Therefore, we must fight against the threat of today to protect our life of tomorrow.We believe in the virtuous circle that can constantly reassess, redefine, and evaluate AI.&gt; The black boxes of "deep learning."&gt; The five professions most threatened by artificial intelligenceLet's start with reviewing current technologies used by businesses and cities to reassess their impact on cognitive abilities in the short and long term. Then, let's redefine these technologies and their designs so that citizens or workers achieve their efficiency and productivity goals without sacrificing their cognitive abilities. If this is not possible, this redefining phase should make it possible to fluidly alternate from a mode that aims for efficiency to a model that makes it possible to strengthen our cognitive capacities.Finally, let's use the AI ??and data analysis applied to these new designs to better assess their effectiveness and, if necessary, initiate a new Reassess / Redefine / Evaluate cycle that allows us to make our lives easier without affecting capacities of our brains.<h3 id="protect-the-cognitive-sense">Protect the cognitive sense</h3>To illustrate such a strategy, the Lew Kwan Yew Center for Innovative Cities in Singapore has developed a new intelligent GPS design. Conventional GPS provides turn-by-turn directions, which the driver can follow almost without thinking. So reassessed, GPS is a cognitive risk factor, as sticking to navigation regularly reduces hippocampal activity with potential long-term risks of Alzheimer's disease. The intelligent GPS could thus allow a driver to receive new information related to visual and spatial cues, for example: "turn right at the red building," or "turn left at the Ferris wheel after the airlift," protecting thus his cognitive and spatial sense of the urban environment. The driver could then have the option of switching between smart GPS mode and conventional GPS in cases where they need quick turn-after-turn instructions.To such a device, we could add analysis possibilities and a playful approach to help the driver see if his navigation improves over time and encourage the continued use of this mode of interaction.Such a strategy forces us to decide which human cognitive capacities are essential and must be protected as a priority to develop solutions with AI that enhance these capacities while reaping the benefits of efficiency and effectiveness increased productivity.From this perspective, such a strategy is much more than a strategy to protect our cognitive capacities. It is a deep hope: strengthening our mental abilities also strengthens what makes us human beings. It's about becoming more human in the age of AI.

Premium reporting on technology, startups, VC funding, and software from Techfastly tagged with AI. Read about themes, trends and strategies for AI.

Artificial Intelligence

Automation and AI Perform Tasks That Once Required Our Cognitive Skills, But Can and Should We Delegate All of Our "Intelligence" to Them?

When it comes to process automation, as the name suggests, RPA (Robotic Process Automation) takes it a step further than solutions such as BPM, Workflow, or Case Management.Indeed, with RPA, it is a question of automating business processes via robots, also called "bots," to eliminate the repetitive tasks, with low added value and tedious, common to all sectors of activity.The potentials of RPA are numerous:<blockquote>Streamlining of daily tasks</blockquote><blockquote>Reducing costs</blockquote><blockquote>Improving performance and productivity</blockquote><blockquote>Enhancing know-how and human expertise within the company</blockquote>Beyond the productivity benefit, the elimination of repetitive tasks contributes to better employee satisfaction and fulfillment, allowing them to focus on value-added activities within the company.Now mature, this robotic succession is all the more timely in a context where bureaucratic tasks increase in proportion to data, technological innovations, and their appropriation within companies through their digital transformation.So what is RPA for? What activities does it apply to? What are its opportunities, and for what benefits for the company?<h3 id="the-basic-principles">The Basic Principles</h3>Entering basic information in forms, copying and pasting this information in several software packages are all administrative tasks that take much time. Repetitive and laborious, these tasks, now anchored in the company's digital activity, are all the more subject to "human error," typos, inaccuracies, and typing in the wrong places.The fundamental goal of RPA is, therefore, to automate manual, tedious, and bulky tasks, such as data entry or information retrieval. Thus, the robot software reproduces human interventions, thanks to the processing of data produced in quantity.Therefore, the concept of RPA is to replace human intervention, with the risks of errors and the loss of time that it implies, by robots.Robots are software that operates automatically and autonomously on employees' workstations and company servers or in the back office.By being predefined with precision and automated, these business processes are accomplished in an ultra-responsive way and with precision by software robots.In short: RPA automates manual and tedious tasks, such as data entry or information retrieval, in large volumes.Owing to the processing of data produced in quantity, the software solution that is RPA reproduces human interventions, assuring speed, accuracy, and permanent availability in accomplishing these tasks for the benefit of business productivity. What activities are involved within the company?The tasks involved have in common that they are predictable, repetitive, and present in high volume, mainly through increased company data.These tasks are typically performed manually and are time-consuming.Some application cases can be cited in different sectors: automatic responses to an e-mail, processing of customer orders, processing of requests by e-mail, processing of salaries, updates of customer profiles, processing of exceptions, payment litigation, patient registration, verification of supplier identification information, processing of customer orders. <h3 id="how-does-rpa-work">How Does RPA Work?</h3>RPA facilitates the interaction between systems by using software robots, which perform actions such as copying and pasting data between screens, typing, clicking, opening, and closing applications and dialogs. Each of these actions is monitored and recorded in an audit report.The robot performs the clicks or the entry and processing of information with a speed and relevance unmatched by any human intervention.The Gartner firm thus defines RPA in its dedicated survey dated 2020:"Robotic process automation (RPA) typically uses a combination of user interface (UI) and API interactions to integrate and perform data transcription jobs between different business and productivity applications. RPA automates repetitive human tasks by emulating the same human transaction steps primarily through orchestrated user interface interactions. "In short and at a minimum, the robot clicks and enters the information for the employee.For example, when a banker onboard a new customer, they will no longer need to enter a quantity of information about that customer in various software databases or information systems.He will no longer have to switch from one system to another or duplicate the same information from one screen to another. Once the basic information has been entered, the robot will feed all the information in its integrity and the necessary locations. The robot, therefore, assists the banker, who can then spend time advising his client rather than completing these successive entries.Business processes are automated and accelerated for the benefit of the employee, the customer, and the business in general.What are the opportunities for the company?<ul><li>Like humans, RPA-configured robot software interprets data, initiates actions on it, and interacts with other information systems.</li><li>The only difference is that robot software can run these processes around the clock, 24/7, with unprecedented speed and flawlessly.</li><li>The need for employees to navigate between multiple systems is reduced to a minimum. The need for manual tasks is eliminated.</li><li>Not only is the productivity gain immense, allowing the company to accomplish these tasks in unprecedented quantities, but it also improves the quality of business processes. The consequence is direct on the significant improvement of the performance of the company while reducing its costs. </li></ul>The opportunity also lies in valuing human expertise. Human intervention can therefore focus on the relationship with the customer and on exceptions and activities with high added value, which do not fall within the framework of routine and repetitive tasks of the company.Benefits we can cite, among others:<blockquote>Reduced execution times</blockquote><blockquote>Reduction or even elimination of manual errors</blockquote><blockquote>Increased productivity</blockquote><blockquote>Promotion of human know-how and expertise</blockquote><blockquote>Employee satisfaction/fulfillment</blockquote><blockquote>Improving the quality of business processes and work in general</blockquote><blockquote>Improved quality of service</blockquote><blockquote>Cost reduction</blockquote><blockquote>Permanent availability</blockquote><blockquote>Automation of interactions between business applications</blockquote><blockquote>Resolving compliance and audit issues</blockquote><blockquote>Traceability of each action during a process</blockquote><blockquote>Increased security</blockquote><blockquote>Speed of development and adaptation to the IS</blockquote><h3 id="what-is-the-link-between-rpa-and-artificial-intelligence-ai">What is The Link between RPA and Artificial Intelligence (AI)?</h3>RPA deals with simple tasks that obey predefined rules that the "robot" follows. No notions of understanding or simulation of human intelligence are involved.On the contrary, artificial intelligence is related to human knowledge. Through contextualization, AI can process the cognitive attributes specific to humans, such as language, interpretation, and judgment. It remains to be seen whether RPA is the first step in the transition to implementing artificial intelligence in companies (Machine Learning).In all cases, the RPA is intended to assist employees in accomplishing the most repetitive, lapped, and tedious tasks of the company, those which obstruct its performance and the quality of the work provided, as well as to the satisfaction of its employees.

Use of RPA in Quality Up-gradation of Products

The use of predictive analytics (PA) models is on the rise. It is intended to drive increased sales and provide data to refine marketing strategies. The use of these models is thus becoming a common practice to measure, for example, consumers' desire or purchasing capacity and, therefore, calibrate scales and communication campaigns.<h3 id="the-organization-of-the-pa-model">The Organization of the PA Model</h3>The organizational model of the PA function is to build a complete PA team. An alternative to this model is to use tools to automate specific time-consuming tasks. Examples of this platform type include DataRobot, Alteryx, RapidMIner, and WTW Emblem for non-life insurance pricing. This type of tool aims to alleviate the need for specialized PA resources by facilitating the construction of models.Regarding the development of a predictive model, the starting point is to identify the needs of the business, driven by the project owner. This will influence the choice of model used, all other things being equal.Below is a list of the usual steps to follow for any PA task:<blockquote>Integrate the PA initiative into a business context</blockquote><blockquote>Define data needs</blockquote><blockquote>Clean data</blockquote><blockquote>Please choose a model and develop it from the available data</blockquote><blockquote>Test the model</blockquote><blockquote>To throw it</blockquote><h3 id="the-pa-models-what-are-the-benefits">The PA Models: What are the Benefits?</h3>This type of tool is not going to help solve business problems or find data. Nor will it replace field knowledge, the need for a data dictionary, or translate the "bad data, bad results" problem. On all these points, it is up to the user to do their job.What the tool does is:<blockquote>Automate the first data cleaning (missing values, creation of age groups or others, a cloud of keywords to encode text into variables, detection of outliers, etc.),</blockquote><blockquote>Build all possible and imaginable models on a sample of data (PCA, ARMA, generalized linear model, decisional tree forest, gradient boosted trees classifier with early stopping [3], etc.,</blockquote><blockquote>Test and validate the second sample of data, and classify the models according to their prediction capacities.</blockquote><blockquote>The tool adds the appropriate panoply of additional features: visible code, technical documentation in MS Word, graphical representation of the predictive capacity of each variable under each model (with dependency analysis), and many more not listed here.</blockquote>From there, it's the business's turn to take control. First, the model must indeed be understood to be fully assimilated. Then, the dark stateside must be revealed through the generated documentation, individual scenarios, and other graphics. These steps can be reused to communicate the model to different stakeholders and obtain their consent. Specific points must also be finalized, such as the realization of the documentation, before the actual launch.<h3 id="data">Data</h3>You have data files from this department, but you may need more data from internal or external sources (e.g., a data broker ...). Make sure you have the skills of a lawyer who will check the compatibility, with the GDPR or any other legal constraint, of transfers of data from one legal entity to another.<h3 id="target-value">Target value</h3>What this means is the overwhelming need to define your needs. Let us mention two illustrations in this context:In the first, we notice that we are not looking to qualify transactions but groups of transactions that fall within the scope of a single survey.In the second, we construct an indicator highlighting the transactions covered by the survey and the result of the study (amount recovered net of the cost of the survey). The file can then have an indicator with three positions: "Not surveyed," "Positive recovery," "Negative recovery."<h3 id="calculation-with-all-possible-predictive-models-classification-of-models-additional-elements">Calculation With All Possible Predictive Models, Classification of Models, Additional Elements </h3>The modelling work can now begin. The data should be separated into several subfiles: one for calibration, one for testing, one for comparing models. As a series of tests are carried out, it is necessary to apply a more refined segmentation and verify that the data used on one side is not used.Then comes the step of finding the correlated variables, doing a PCA, and testing linear models, or even somewhat complex models. We must then choose the model that works best after having clarified the classification criteria.Finally, it remains to document the chosen model and write the equations that underlie the model's theory. All of these steps can be performed by API platforms.But the model must be understood by the owner. You have to take ownership of what the tool has proposed. Did he show a correlation ? la Nicolas Cage? Or is it an illustration of the parable of the blind and the elephant (Anekantavada) [4], in which everyone guesses the whole by touching a part (if one feels the leg, the elephant looks like a tree?; if you touch the ear, the elephant looks like a fan; if you touch the trunk, the elephant looks like a snake?)?Does the model over-represent the data-rich aspects but forget the fundamental elements incorrectly covered by the file? Is the phenomenon stable enough for the results to be exploitable (for example, everyone who buys a yellow jacket owns a car and is risk-averse)?The fraud detection team must then perform the launch of the model on the accurate data. Are the data still available? Will the model never be used out of context? Will the documentation be updated? Do stakeholders understand the model well enough to continue using it? This substantial work is critical for an exemplary deployment of the tool.<h3 id="end-note">End Note</h3>No, this type of platform isn't the silver bullet to all of your problems, but it can lower your costs and alleviate the concerns that building an AP team can raise in terms of how much money to invest.

Premium reporting on technology, startups, VC funding, and software from Techfastly tagged with Machine Learning. Read everything on Machine Learning here.

Machine Learning

Steps For Building Predictive Models


Intel may unveil a "?Bonanza Mine?" chip, according to the latest rumours. However, this powerful chip would be used only for cryptocurrency mining and would not interest casual users.

Intel May Be Working on a Chip Specializing in Bitcoin Mining

Cryptocurrency mining continues to be all the rage, for better and worse. Of course, it is tricky for gamers, who will soon be forced to mortgage their homes for an RTX 3080 if the problem worsens. But contrarily, it is also an opportunity for manufacturers to take advantage of the game. And that Intel understood it well; According to Tom's Hardware, the blue team could soon release hardware dedicated explicitly to Bitcoin mining.Bitcoin mining is a controversial topic, but it looks like Intel might join the fray by releasing a chip designed specifically for it. Intel may unveil a "?Bonanza Mine?" chip, according to the latest rumours. However, this powerful chip would be used only for cryptocurrency mining and would not interest casual users.Often, graphics cards are associated with cryptocurrency mining. Many attribute the current GPU shortage, in part, to Ethereum mining, as cards are sold out before ordinary users can get their hands on them. However, rumours suggest Intel may be working on a specialized mining chip it calls Bonanza Mine.According to Tom's Hardware, Intel could unveil this chip at the ISSCC (International Solid-State Circuits Conference), which will take place in February. The conference focuses on semiconductor circuits and system-on-chips (SoCs). Intel is expected to present the new Bonanza Mine processor in the Highlighted Chip Releases category.This processor is described as an "ultra-low-voltage, low-power bitcoin (BTC) mining application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)", and it looks like it could mark a new milestone in mining hardware for Intel. The company may be looking to compete with analogue ASICs, such as those made by Bitmain, in a market sector centred around bitcoin mining.If it's graphics cards that get the bad rap, bitcoin is usually mined on ASICs: specialized chips designed to perform only one specific task. But, as proven by Bitmain, ASICs can provide the power needed for mining at a lower cost.<h3 id="not-a-new-interest">Not a new interest</h3>It should be noted that the cost reduction comes in the form of higher efficiency and lower power requirements of the ASICs in question. When buying one from Bitmain, the price and delivery times are pretty steep. A quick look at Bitmain's website shows dozens of ASICs, some costing well over $10,000.As Tom's Hardware reports, Intel's interest in Bitcoin mining is nothing new. The company patented a specialized ASIC optimized for SHA 256 in 2018, aimed at mining. While Intel hasn't revealed much since it looks like the chip may have been in the works all this time, and the company may be preparing to show it off.Intel will soon launch its new Arc Alchemist discrete gaming GPUs. The company has announced that it will not limit mining on these cards, but it would prefer the cards to go to players rather than miners. However, it is also clear that Intel could support the idea of ??Bitcoin mining to the point of creating specialized hardware for this purpose.<h3 id="a-next-generation-asic">A next-generation ASIC</h3>The first instinct upon reading this information would have been to turn to Arc GPUs. After all, the Intel troops have already promised that specific models will be specially designed for cryptocurrency mining. But the mere presence of the word Bitcoin is already enough to exclude Arc cards from the equation since this cryptocurrency is almost entirely mined on technological platforms, ASICs. This information is confirmed by the title of the presentation spotted by Tom's Hardware, which explicitly mentions an ASIC.Intel probably hopes to find a place in this highly buoyant market with this new product. At this time, it's still unclear if Bonanza Mine will end up on the shelves as such or if it's a research and development project. But what is interesting is, above all, the philosophy behind Intel's crypto adventure.Raja Koduri, the honcho of Intel's GPU division, has noticed a form of market overlap like the rest of the general public. On the other, we have miners and gamers all competing for the same products. Koduri, therefore, believes that there is an urgent need to develop hardware specifically designed for mining. It is a question of increasing the availability of cards for their natural uses and optimizing a process that is currently very energy-intensive and a tad unruly.<h3 id="towards-a-definitive-schism-between-mining-and-gaming-hardware">Towards a definitive schism between mining and gaming hardware?</h3>"GPUs will take care of graphics, gaming, and all those wonderful things," Koduri explains. "But being able to perform blockchain validation operations much more efficiently [and therefore with specialized equipment, editor's note] is not an insoluble problem. We are working on it, and we will soon present interesting material for this purpose".Intel's interest is good news for token enthusiasts. But it is also an approach that the gaming community will certainly applaud with both hands, knowing the significant impact of the cryptocurrency industry on the price of graphics cards. Indeed, we should not expect GPUs to fall back to factory prices as soon as Bonanza Mine is officially announced, far from it. But it could be a fundamental first step in this direction.Indeed, if Bonanza Mine proves convincing enough and ends up bringing big money to Intel, other manufacturers could start developing lots of ASICs to mine various cryptocurrencies. They could thus become increasingly affordable, even more, profitable for miners than consumer GPUs. Of course, it is still much early to say that this market split will indeed take place. However, one thing is certain: Bonanza Mine will have to be followed closely because this still very discreet product could initiate significant changes throughout the world in this industry within several years.

Write for us

Subscribe to Magazine