ASICs, or application-specific integrated circuits, are hardware designed to do one thing and one thing only. That one thing varies from ASIC to ASIC, but for Bitcoin, it is to mine Bitcoin.
More specifically, to mine SHA-256 hashes very quickly.
ASICs were first used for Bitcoin in 2013 when the first batch of ASICs designed specifically for Bitcoin mining were released by Butterfly Labs. Since then, ASICs have become more and more common in the Bitcoin mining world.
In fact, according to BitFury CEO Valery Vavilov, about 85% of Bitcoin mining is done with ASICs.
NOTE: WARNING: Mining Ethereum or any other cryptocurrency can be a very risky and time-consuming process. Before attempting to mine Ethereum, it is important to understand that an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) is not required in order to mine Ethereum. However, if you choose to mine Ethereum with an ASIC, be aware that this may require significant additional resources and knowledge. Additionally, the cost of an ASIC may outweigh the rewards of mining Ethereum with one. Therefore, it is recommended to conduct thorough research before deciding whether or not mining Ethereum with an ASIC is the right choice for you.
So do you need an ASIC to mine Ethereum? The short answer is no. The long answer is a bit more complicated.
Ethereum uses a different hashing algorithm than Bitcoin. Ethereum’s hashing algorithm is called Ethash and it’s a memory-hard hashing algorithm.
That means that in order to be effective at mining Ethereum you need a lot of RAM. And that’s something that ASICs are not very good at.
ASICs are very good at doing one thing and one thing only. That might be fine for Bitcoin where all you need is a fast SHA-256 miner, but it’s not so great for Ethereum where you need a lot of RAM as well.
So while you don’t need an ASIC to mine Ethereum, an ASIC would not be very effective at mining Ethereum. If you want to mine Ethereum effectively, you’re better off with a GPU or a CPU.
6 Related Question Answers Found
ASICs, or application-specific integrated circuits, are hardware designed to do a specific task. In the case of Bitcoin, ASICs are designed to process SHA-256 hashing problems to mine new bitcoins. Ethereum, on the other hand, is designed to be mined with GPUs.
ASICs, or application-specific integrated circuits, are chips designed for a specific purpose. In the case of Bitcoin, ASICs are designed specifically to mine Bitcoin and nothing else. Ethereum is different from Bitcoin in that it is not possible to create an ASIC that would be able to mine Ethereum.
ASIC miners are devices that are designed to mine a specific cryptocurrency. For example, an ASIC miner for Bitcoin would be designed to mine Bitcoin and would not be able to mine other cryptocurrencies. Ethereum is a different cryptocurrency to Bitcoin and therefore an ASIC miner for Ethereum would be unable to mine Bitcoin.
Since the early days of Bitcoin, there have been attempts to develop specialized hardware for mining cryptocurrencies. These so-called “Application-Specific Integrated Circuits” (ASICs) are designed to do one thing and one thing only: mine a specific cryptocurrency as efficiently as possible. ASICs for Bitcoin were first released in 2013, and since then, companies have released ASICs for a variety of other cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum.
The cryptocurrency market is highly volatile and unpredictable. This is especially true when it comes to Ethereum, the second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. In the past year, Ethereum has seen incredible price swings, rising from less than $100 in early 2017 to over $1,000 in January 2018.
ASICs, or application-specific integrated circuits, are chips designed for a specific purpose, such as mining Ethereum. ASICs are more efficient than general-purpose GPUs, which is why they are often used in Bitcoin mining. Ethereum does not currently allow ASICs.
