SAMSUNG IS MAKING CHIPS TO MINE CRYPTOCURRENCIES

Large companies are getting involved in the world of cryptocurrencies . Samsung confirmed that it began producing ASIC chips, which are used to mine Bitcoins, Ether and other cryptocurrencies, the company said to TechCrunch.

Recently, Samsung overtook Intel as the world's largest chip maker. But the South Korean firm wants to continue expanding its business into the future, which is in cryptocurrency mining.

Samsung confirmed that it is developing a hardware specially designed to mine cryptocurrencies. However, the spokesman who confirmed this fact to the media said he could not say more details about it.

The type of chips that Samsung is building is known as ASIC, integrated circuits for specific applications, for its acronym in English. ASIC chips are processors that are designed for a single computational task. This unlike the multipurpose processors that we use in computers and cell phones.

As the value of cryptocurrencies has risen in recent months, the demand for this type of chips has also increased, explains The Verge. In the case of Bitcoin, the currency is created by solving mathematical problems. This process is known as mining Bitcoins. The more bitcoins are mined, these mathematical problems become more difficult. This has caused the miners to migrate from conventional graphics cards, to GPU cards designed for video games. And now, also to ASIC chips.

It is not yet clear what type of product Samsung is producing. But according to some Korean media reports , the company would be working with the Taiwanese firm TSMC. This company currently provides crypto-mining chips for many companies, such as Bitmain.
South Korea and cryptocurrencies
Samsung's confirmation of its 'mining' chips comes at a critical time for cryptocurrencies in South Korea. Just this week, the country's finance minister said the government has no plans to ban trade with cryptocurrencies.

This is good news for the millions of investors in virtual currencies living in that country, according to Reuters. It was feared that the government would prohibit this technology. This would have caused a crisis in the value of the same and in losses of money.

However, South Korea is in a critical position. The country considers that cryptocurrencies give space to illegality. For example, official entities announced this week that until now illegal transactions with cryptocurrencies have been discovered for a total value of almost 600 million dollars.