Bitcoin Miner Hive Is Using Old Ethereum Rigs and AI to Make Ordinals Art
Canadian crypto miner HIVE Digital Applied sciences desires to make use of Ordinals in one among its AI initiatives, inscribing generative artwork on Bitcoin’s blockchain with the assistance of previous Ethereum mining rigs.
HIVE CEO Aydin Kilic described the venture as an train in technical prowess for one among crypto’s largest miners. He advised Decrypt that Ordinals supplies a brand new means for the agency to make use of its fleet of>merge” and made miners out of date.
“We are going to create generative AI artwork with our personal GPUs, on our personal fine-tuned mannequin of Steady Diffusion, […] after which use our hash energy on the Bitcoin community to inscribe these on the Bitcoin blockchain,” he stated.
What Is ‘The Merge’? Ethereum’s Transfer to Proof of Stake
Ordinals launched earlier this 12 months, and the buzzy Bitcoin protocol has led to a wave of innovation with crypto’s oldest coin. As a means for individuals to create NFT-like belongings on Bitcoin by “inscribing” information on particular person satoshi, equal to 1/100,000,000 of an entire Bitcoin, Ordinals has additionally been a important windfall for Bitcoin miners that profit from elevated transaction charges.
Though Bitcoin transaction charges from Ordinals inscriptions have cooled over the previous couple of months—fervor surrounding BRC-20 tokens, that are constructed on prime of Bitcoin utilizing Ordinals, despatched them sky excessive—Kilic stated HIVE is certainly “nonetheless leaning into them.”
Kilic in contrast the initiative to jet fighter squadrons just like the Blue Angels who exhibit their expertise by flying in tight formations. He described HIVE’s venture as bold as a result of it faucets so many various segments of HIVE’s enterprise, together with its cloud computing platforms and customized variations of AI fashions like Steady Diffusion.
Bitcoin Mining Income Hits $184 Million in Q2 Amid Ordinals Fervor
“We wish to do a soup-to-nuts AI and Ordinals venture that’s totally built-in,” he stated. “It’s a mirrored image of our core competencies as a expertise chief within the AI and Bitcoin area.”
Except for making a digital artwork pipeline, Kilic stated HIVE is working with its custody suppliers to begin transacting unusual sats discovered by way of Ordinals. Unusual sats, that are valued at a premium, are the primary sat of every Bitcoin block. Kilic stated HIVE has 272 of them. Sat is a typical abbreviation for satoshi, the smallest denomination of Bitcoin that information is inscribed on.
When Ethereum shifted to proof-of-stake final 12 months, it modified the best way that transactions are verified on the community and significantly lowered its vitality consumption. With Bitcoin, miners use massive quantities of vitality to confirm transactions by way of proof-of-work.
Ethereum Vitality Utilization, Carbon Footprint Down 99.99% After Merge: Report
After Ethereum’s transition to proof-of-stake, HIVE stated it was exploring alternate options to Ethereum mining. Creating a generative artwork pipeline utilizing new applied sciences matches into HIVE’s general company technique of maximizing assets, Kilic stated.
HIVE went public in 2017 and trades on the TSX Enterprise Trade in Canada underneath the HIVE.V image. It has additionally traded on the Nasdaq since 2021 underneath the HIVE image. Shares of HIVE presently change arms at $5.66, and the corporate has a market capitalization of round $477 million.
Echoing feedback made by MicroStrategy co-founder and govt chairman Michael Saylor, who stated Ordinals holds potential within the realm of app growth, Kilic stated the protocol permits corporations like HIVE to experiment with Bitcoin in beforehand unimagined methods.
“I believe that it’s unleashing a complete new period,” Kilic stated. “We’re all tremendous supportive of it.”
