What
is ASIC?
It is an “Application-specific integrated circuit.” It’s
essentially a little computer built specifically for a limited set of processes.
It’s “a system on a chip.” So with crypto, we are talking about a little computer
built specifically for mining a certain coin or set of coins.
What
is ASIC mining?
The gist is ASIC describes a type of chip that is ultra
specialized in a single set of processes (in this case, mining cryptocurrency). An
ASIC miner generally consists of an ASIC chip, power source, fan, and mining
software.
What
does the term “mining rig” mean?
It means at least a device like an Antminer, but potentially a
whole rack (or racks) of fans, processors, ASIC miners, etc We use ASIC hardware
because it is the only hardware powerful enough to mine most of the major coins.
Another factor in mining is energy costs. In some regions the cost of energy is too
high to reasonably make a profit from mining.