South Korean technology giant Samsung (TIKER: SMSN.LSEIOB) has confirmed that it has begun manufacturing ASIC chips which are used to mine cryptocurrencies, TechCrunch reports.
Samsung has already finished the development stage and reportedly started manufacturing on January 29th.
“Samsung is operating a foundry that supplies a Chinese cryptocurrency mining firm with mining equipment and ASIC chips. Since Samsung has just begun its cryptocurrency mining venture, it is unsure of the revenues it can generate from it,” a company spokesperson said.
The Bell quoted Hwang Min-seong, an analyst at Samsung Securities:
“Samsung Electronics could increase its revenues through ASIC chip manufacturing but because the foundry only accounts for a small portion of the company’s semiconductor manufacturing plant, it is difficult to predict that the firm’s mining venture will have a significant impact on the company’s revenues.”
The news brings big-name competition to the ASIC space, which is dominated by China’s Bitmain and Canaan Creative, both of which work with Taiwanese giant TSMC.