30 November 2021
Quantum Blockchain Technologies
Plc
(“QBT” or “the Company”)
NDA signed to
provide QBT with
5nm Technology for
Proprietary Bitcoin mining ASIC
The board of Quantum Blockchain Technologies (AIM: QBT) is
pleased to announce that it has made the key decision to focus on
the development of the more efficient 5nm Application-Specific
Integrated Circuit (“ASIC”), rather than a 7nm ASIC (as announced
on 5 November 2021), to use as its
proprietary Bitcoin mining tool.
This decision was taken following a recent market announcement
by a leading international Bitcoin mining equipment manufacturer
that it will use 5nm ASICs for its the next generation of Bitcoin
miners, which it expects to release in the second half of 2022.
Accordingly, QBT has updated its development programme for
the prototyping and industrial manufacturing of its proprietary
Bitcoin mining, to use the 5nm ASIC.
Based on the Company’s internal projections, it believes that
its previously planned optimised 7nm ASIC, would run at the same
speed as the proposed 5nm ASIC, as announced by the above-mentioned
Bitcoin miner manufacturer; this calculation is assuming the same
number of ASICs will be used in the next mining model, as the
above-mentioned miner currently applies to its existing model.
The rationale to move from a 7nm to 5nm, is because the
estimated speed of QBT’s proprietary Bitcoin mining ASIC is
expected to be at least twice as fast as the leading international
Bitcoin miner manufacturer, before taking into account the
optimisations of a second patent under development, which are yet
to be factored in.
The Company will, therefore, move directly to developing a 5nm
ASIC prototype, although it will still consider a phase of testing,
as an intermediate step, on the 12nm ASIC, as announced on
5 November 2021.
A Non-Disclosure Agreement (“NDA”) has been signed with an
international research & development organisation,
which is active in the field of nanoelectronics, and which
will give the Company access to one of the few 5nm semiconductor
fabrication plants currently operational in the world.
The Company recognises that this significant step change, from
7nm to 5nm will, with regards to industrial production be
significantly more expensive than its original strategy. However,
as a first step, the initial phase of prototype testing of a 5nm
ASIC will not cost the Company much more than the same process for
a 7nm ASIC.
Assuming that the second patent application is filed by the
Company’s cryptography expert by the end of February 2022, a first 5nm prototype, which would
include all the improvements of both QBT’s first (ASIC UltraBoost)
and second patent application, could be ready for manufacture in Q3
2022.
Detailed calculations on the energy consumption will be
available only at the end of the ASIC design phase, before the
small batch manufacturing of a prototype, when the ASIC software
development platform will be able to perform a realistic
estimate.
Francesco Gardin, CEO and
Executive Chairman of QBT, commented: “Access to the 5nm
technology for our ASIC Bitcoin mining chip is, after careful
consideration, the natural choice for QBT in 2022. While the 12nm
prototype is still an easy and relatively low-cost option, which we
may still use for strategic ‘time-to-mine’ testing and early
mining, the 5nm ASIC is now definitely our target.
“We have quickly identified a major international supplier,
which will give us access to the 5nm technology and support our
design team, given the very specific features and know-how involved
when designing a 5nm ASIC. By entering into an NDA with this party,
we can now begin the assessment of the timeline of the project,
including the costs to produce a 5nm prototype and take it to
industrial production.
“We continue to move fast to develop our disruptive Bitcoin
mining strategy, of which the ASIC component is one of the key
directions of our multidisciplinary cross-fertilising R&D
approach.”
“This announcement contains inside information for the purposes
of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 as it
forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union
(Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("MAR"), and is disclosed in accordance with
the Company's obligations under Article 17 of MAR”
For further information please contact:
Quantum Blockchain Technologies Plc
Francesco Gardin, CEO and Executive
Chairman
+39 335 296 573
SP Angel Corporate Finance
(Nominated Adviser & Broker) Jeff
Keating
+44 (0)20 3470
0470
Leander (Financial PR)
Christian
Taylor-Wilkinson
+44 (0) 7795 168 157
About Quantum Blockchain Technologies
Plc
QBT (AIM: QBT) is an AIM listed investment company which has
recently realigned its strategic focus to technology related
investments, with special regard to Quantum computing, Blockchain,
Cryptocurrencies and AI sectors. The Company has commenced an
aggressive R&D and investment programme in the dynamic world of
Blockchain Technology, which includes cryptocurrency mining and
other advanced blockchain applications.
Glossary of Terms:
ASIC: An Application-Specific Integrated Circuit is an
integrated circuit chip customized for a particular use, rather
than intended for general-purpose use. ASIC chips are typically
fabricated using metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) technology, as MOS
integrated circuit chips
FPGA: A field-programmable gate array is an integrated
circuit designed to be configured by a customer or a designer after
manufacturing – hence the term "field-programmable". The FPGA
configuration is generally specified using a hardware description
language (HDL), similar to that used for an application-specific
integrated circuit (ASIC).
Nanometer: A nanometer is a unit of measurement that is
equivalent to one billionth of a meter. It is widely used as a
scale for building tiny, complex, and atomic-scale computing and
electronic components, such as ASIC chips.
SHA256: Secure Hashing Algorithm (SHA) -256 is the hash
function and mining algorithm of the Bitcoin protocol, referring to
the cryptographic hash function that outputs a 256 bits long
value.