Hut 8 collaborates with BITMAIN to launch a new ASIC miner with direct chip cooling

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Bitcoin (BTC) mining firm Hut 8 and mining hardware manufacturer BITMAIN announced the expansion of their partnership on September 19 with the release of the U3S21EXPH, a next-generation ASIC miner.

Hut 8 plans to implement the model in Q2 2025 through a hosting agreement of approximately 15 exahash per second.

The U3S21EXPH is BITMAIN’s first mass-marketed ASIC miner to feature direct liquid-to-chip cooling in a U-form factor. According to the announcement, it can achieve up to 860 terahash at an efficiency of 13 joules per terahash.

Key advancements include the introduction of DLC cooling technology, the evolution to a “U” form factor compatible with HPC-style architecture, and the opportunity for better supply chain synchronization across Bitcoin and HPC data centers.

“Our partnership with BITMAIN has allowed us to advance our thinking on ASIC computing and create a more scalable model for data center design as we expand our footprint,” said Hut 8 CEO Asher Genoot.

The U3S21EXPH will be marketed through a hosting agreement between Hut 8 and BITMAIN, which includes a fixed hosting fee and an option for Hut 8 to purchase all or part of the hosted machines within six months of supply.

The initial deal is around 15 exahashes per second (EH/s) and is expected to increase Hut 8’s managed hashrate from 18.5 EH/s to nearly 33.5 EH/s.

If Hut 8 exercises the option to purchase the entire 15 EH/s hosting deployment, the company’s self-exploitation rate is expected to increase from 5.6 EH/s to approximately 20.6 EH/s.

Irene Gao, VP Mining of BITMAIN, commented: “Hut 8’s technical expertise, operational strength and track record of innovation made this partnership a natural evolution of our relationship as we embarked on the journey of developing next generation ASIC technology” .

Increasing efforts

In its August operations report, Hut 8 revealed a 0.1EH/sa increase in its value. However, the total amount of Bitcoin mined last month fell to 87 BTC, down from 105 BTC mined in July. That’s a 17% drop.

Moreover, according to Hut 8 results for Q2, the company accumulated a net loss of $71.9 million. However, the largest portion was related to the $71.8 million digital asset fair value adjustment.

However, despite the cost of mining a single BTC almost doubling from Q2 2023 to the last quarter, the Bitcoin mining firm saw a nearly 72% year-over-year increase in revenue, totaling 35.2 million USD from April to June.

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