First Zcash ASIC Miner Has Been Released by Bitmain

The Chinese mining giant, Bitmain, has unveiled a new ASIC miner that is dedicated to the Equihash algorithm used by Zcash (ZEC). Back on Wednesday, the company announced that it had developed the first Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) that is able to mine on Equihash-secured networks.

Bitmain Releases ASIC Miner for Zcash

Zcash is a virtual currency that uses encryption so as to protect the information of the transactions. The coin was launched in 2016 by Zerocoin Electric Coin Company (ZECC) and its creator is Zooko Wilcox.

The new Antminer Z9 mini, capable of mining Zcash, will start to be shipped in June. This new release comes a month after the debut of Bitmain’s Ethereum ASIC miner.

Bitmain tweeted on May the 3^rd:

“Pleased to announce the Antminer Z9 mini, an ASIC miner to mine #Equihash-based cryptocurrencies. To prevent hoarding and let more individuals worldwide get one, we’ve set a limit of one miner per user. Order here now while stock lasts! #AntminerZ9”

Pleased to announce the Antminer Z9 mini, an ASIC miner to mine #Equihash-based cryptocurrencies. To prevent hoarding and to let more individuals worldwide get one, we've set a limit of one miner per user. Order here (https://t.co/LdIbpRrbgI) now while stock lasts!#AntminerZ9 pic.twitter.com/xJD58SKUfy

— BITMAIN [Not giving away ETH] (@BITMAINtech) May 3, 2018

One of the main complaints to Bitmain is that it starts using the ASIC miners produced much more time before it starts selling them. Bitmain is the dominant company in the mining hardware industry, and it does not have any real competitor. Recently they just released Bitmain Antminer B3 ASIC Miner For Bytom (BTM) as well as expanding into the USA for bitcoin mining purposes.

Cryptocurrencies like Monero have decided to modify their mining algorithm in order to make Bitmain’s miners not compatible with its network. Moreover, the Ethereum community was debating whether to adopt similar measures or not.

At the same time, Zooko Wilcox wrote a blog post in which he explains that ASIC resistance cannot be sustained forever. Moreover, he explained that it is very important to allow users to mine with GPU power.

“One thing I’ve learned along the way is that GPU mining is absolutely essential to Zcashers in Venezuela. If Venezuelans try to import ASIC miners (i.e. for Bitcoin, currently), then they risk having their miners stolen or extorted by the army which controls all imports.”