Hive’s ‘Massive Efficiency Upgrade’ Led by Intel-powered Miner Rollout

The publicly traded company is set to receive the last of its new, Intel-driven mining rigs by the end of January

article-image

Mark Agnor/Shutterstock.com modified by Blockworks

share

Hive Blockchain has installed about a quarter of its expected new fleet of customized mining rigs powered by Intel processors — one key component of a push the company said would result in a “massive efficiency upgrade.”

The Canada-based bitcoin miner moved to set up a supply arrangement with Intel in March 2022. Hive executives said at the time that the company would work with a separate manufacturer to integrate Intel’s blockchain accelerators into an air-cooled bitcoin mining system that, once in place, would boost its bitcoin mining hash rate by roughly 95%.

Now, going on a year since the agreement was made public, Hive has put to work more than 1,400 of the new Intel-driven units — the company calls them HIVE BuzzMiners — the mining operator said this week. A total of 5,800 have been slated for production.

The crypto mining firm’s stock (HIVE) soared some 22% by mid-afternoon Thursday in New York, one of a number of publicly trading crypto companies to book double-digit intraday gains on the heels of cooling US inflation metrics released Thursday. 

Though the stock has plummeted 76% over the past 12 or so months, the last 30 days have brought about quite the rebound: up roughly 46% from a month ago. 

The recent installation of 1,423 HIVE BuzzMiners, as well as 2,050 Bitmain S19j Pro miners, are part of the company’s push to capture market share in the distressed bitcoin (as well as other proof-of-work blockchains) mining sector.  

Hive expects all of the 5,800 HIVE BuzzMiners to be manufactured, tested and shipped by the end of January 2023.

A Hive spokesperson did not immediately return a request for additional comment. 

Intel said last April that Block, GRIID Infrastructure and Argo Blockchain were signed up to be among the first customers of the newly launched Intel Blockscale ASIC product. The ASICs are capable of powering up to 580 giga hashes per second (GH/s) in hash rate and can reach power efficiency of 26 joules per terahash (J/TH) — ranking on the more efficient end compared to a number of competitors. 

Intel Chief Architect Raja Koduri tweeted in June that the computing conglomerate had started shipping its Blockscale ASIC to a number of miners.

“Excited to see how Argo Blockchain, Griid and Hive Blockchain improvise around Blockscale and our open design,” he said at the time.

Intel did not immediately return a request for comment.

Hive’s growth comes during a tough time for the crypto mining sector. Hive Executive Chair Frank Holmes told Blockworks in September that Hive had enough cash on hand to pay for the Intel miners — adding that the company was going after other buying opportunities as abandoned machines flooded the market.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

  • Blockworks Daily: The newsletter that helps thousands of investors understand crypto and the markets, by Byron Gilliam.
  • Empire: Start your morning with the top news and analysis to inform your day in crypto.
  • Forward Guidance: Reporting and analysis on the growing intersection of crypto and macroeconomics, policy and finance.
  • 0xResearch: Alpha directly in your inbox. Market highlights, data, degen trade ideas, governance updates, token performance and more.
  • Lightspeed: Built for Solana investors, developers and community members. The latest from one of crypto’s hottest networks.
  • The Drop: For crypto collectors and traders, covering apps, games, memes and more.
  • Supply Shock: Tracking Bitcoin’s rise from internet plaything worth less than a penny to global phenomenon disrupting money as we know it.
Tags

Upcoming Events

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Research

article-image

Anticipating an economic downturn, venture firms may be less likely to invest

article-image

Trump’s tariffs may have potentially significant impacts on GDP, household spending and food prices — if they hold

article-image

The Binance-affiliated stablecoin lost about $200M of market capitalization

article-image

How the Bitcoin conversation has evolved since the price was less than $1

article-image

The platform also rolled out 13 tokenized funds for institutions on the Connect platform

article-image

The company’s expanded lineup introduces new ETF products, as more and more issuers get into crypto funds