Intel pulls the plug on Bitcoin mining chips after less than a year

Intel has discontinued its Blockscale 100 ASIC, its first Bitcoin-mining chip, less than a year after its release, without announcing a successor. The company has also dodged questions about whether it will exit the Bitcoin ASIC business, saying only that it continues to monitor market opportunities. The larger crypto winter and the rise of AI as a hot new investment may have contributed to Intel's decision, as well as the departure of Raja Koduri, the graphics architect who led the crypto chip initiative.