ASIC is an acronym that stands for Application Specific Integrated Circuit. An ASIC is a piece of computer hardware designed specifically to mine cryptocurrency, usually Bitcoin. Mining Bitcoin requires heavy duty computing power, so any system built to mine is built with a few key characteristics. First, the faster the better. If you want to be the first to solve the next cryptographic puzzle, you’ll want the fastest computer available. Second, cooling. The faster a computer runs, the more heat it generates and more power it takes to cool down. Some miners combat this by building their mining operations in cold places, such as Siberia, or being located in a place with cheaper energy, near power plants for example. ASIC’s were created to specifically with these characteristics in mind. Because its only use case is to mine Bitcoin, ASIC’s can sacrifice diverse functionality for efficiency and save power.
