Argo Blockchain to Build Intel-Based Bitcoin Mining Rigs With ePIC Blockchain

Argo Blockchain (LSE: ARB) will work with ePIC Blockchain, a Canadian blockchain hardware manufacturer, to design and build crypto mining rigs using Intel's new second-generation bitcoin mining chips, Argo said Tuesday.

The announcement comes as argo shares have been trading on the london stock exchange for the past six months, with other publicly traded mining companies experiencing a similar slowdown that bitcoin has sharply declined in value and margins have tightened. Even though Argo upgraded its hashrate outlook for the year in April, it saw a 25% drop in bitcoin mined in May.

The ePIC partnership is an extension of a 2021 deal in which Argo Blockchain agreed to buy $8 million worth of ePIC's mining rigs, CEO Peter Wall said in a taped message posted on Argo's YouTube channel on Tuesday.

Wall compared the construction of custom mining machines to the purchase of a dell pc as opposed to an apple macbook, say it's cheaper on a dollar per terahash basis and allows argo to have granular control of the platforms.

"This is a game shift," said the CEO in the video.

Intel mining semiconductors could break an effective duopoly in the mining platform market in which two manufacturers – bitmain and microbe – rule supreme.

Block (SQ), Griid Infrastructure and Hive Blockchain (HIVE) are set to be the first customers for Intel's new mining chips.

Read more: Crypto Miner Hive Blockchain Selling Ether to Pay for Intel Mining Rigs