Chinese cryptocurrency mining giant Bitmain confirmed it would roll out a firmware update for so-called 'Overt AsicBoost' to all its Antminer models in a blog post Monday, Oct. 22.
Bitmain, which holds a monopoly on Bitcoin mining through its subsidiary mining pools BTC.com and Antpool, said the release would begin with its most recent Antminer S9 product, extending to older versions next week.
Overt AsicBoost refers to a method of increasing mining "Effectiveness" for Antminers, Bitmain says, in a way that does not produce "Any negative impact on the Bitcoin protocol."
"As an organization, we didn't want to violate patent laws or act in any way that was untoward."
Bitmain garnered a slew of criticism beginning in 2017 over AsicBoost, with Bitcoin Core developers in particular voicing concerns that the protocol's exploitative efficiency gains could ultimately destabilize the Bitcoin network.
The latest release was also not without controversy, Bitmain's blog post coming just days after competitor mining pool Slush Pool warned the community that the upgrade was not compatible with its requirements.
This, one well-known crypto Twitter commentator subsequently suggested, was one factor that may have made Bitmain "Worried" about loss of miners.
Chinese Mining Giant Bitmain's New Firmware Update Reignites AsicBoost Controversy
Published on Oct 23, 2018
by Cointele | Published on Coinage
Coinage
Mentioned in this article
Recent News
View All
Blockchain Bites: Bitcoin's Run, Uniswap's Hemorrhaging Value, Anchorage's Banking Bid
Bitcoin is nearing all-time highs in price and market cap last set three years ago.
Japan's megabanks to lead experiment with digital yen
We have, in order, Cheese Bank with a $3.3 million theft, Akropolis with its $2 million loss, Value DeFi with a whopping $6 million exploit and finally Origin Protocol's loss of $7 million.
Number of new Bitcoin addresses spikes amid growing FOMO
Japan's three largest banks, as part of a group of 30 private sector actors, are set to collaborate on an experiment with a digital yen.
Not just Wall Street: Quant trader explains why Bitcoin price is going up
Sam Trabucco, a quantitative trader at Alameda Research, believes four general factors are pushing up the price of Bitcoin.