A small Texas mining {hardware} firm is releasing what it says is probably the most highly effective open-source touchscreen bitcoin miner at the moment obtainable to residence customers.
Houston-based Solo Satoshi introduced the launch of the Bitaxe Turbo Contact, a compact machine designed for hobbyists and residential miners that delivers greater than double the hashrate of different touchscreen miners in its class.
In response to a observe shared with Bitcoin Journal, the unit produces about 2.15 terahashes per second (TH/s).
The product builds on the open-source Bitaxe GT 801 platform and is powered by twin BM1370 ASIC chips, the identical chips used within the industrial-scale Bitmain Antminer S21 Professional. The chips enable the machine to realize effectivity of roughly 18 joules per terahash, based on the corporate. Throughout testing, the machine reportedly reached over 3 TH/s when overclocked.
The miner features a 4.3-inch capacitive touchscreen that shows real-time community and mining knowledge. Eight rotating shows present metrics akin to hashrate efficiency, bitcoin value, present block top and lately mined blocks.
Community info is pulled from mempool.area, a extensively used blockchain knowledge explorer.
Matt Howard, founder and chief government of Solo Satoshi, stated the corporate prioritized transparency when constructing the machine.
“We constructed this as a result of we imagine the instruments individuals use to work together with Bitcoin ought to be absolutely verifiable,” Howard stated in an announcement. “Each line of code between the ASIC chips and the pixels on the touchscreen is open supply.”
Open supply bitcoin mining
The miner runs two open-source firmware layers: AxeOS, which manages the mining operations, and BAP‑GT‑TOUCH, which powers the touchscreen interface. Each software program repositories, together with {hardware} schematics and board layouts, are publicly obtainable below an open {hardware} license.
The machine consumes about 43 watts of energy and produces roughly 35 decibels of noise, putting it nearer to the sound stage of a quiet room than conventional industrial mining rigs. At typical U.S. residential electrical energy charges, Solo Satoshi estimates the miner would value about $3.70 per 30 days to function.
The Bitaxe Turbo Contact connects by means of a 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi module utilizing an ESP32-S3 microcontroller, and configuration is dealt with by means of a browser-based dashboard. Every unit is assembled in america and examined for hashing efficiency earlier than transport, the corporate stated.
Solo Satoshi is positioning the machine in opposition to different compact touchscreen miners such because the Braiins BMM 101. The corporate says its mannequin delivers considerably decrease value per terahash — about $151 per TH in contrast with roughly $299 per TH for the Braiins machine.
The launch additionally highlights a rising area of interest inside the bitcoin mining trade targeted on open-source {hardware}. Whereas most massive mining operations depend on proprietary gear from main producers, smaller builders and hobbyist communities have pushed for clear designs that may be modified and audited.
Solo Satoshi stated it labored with the Open Supply Miners United group to develop elements of the machine, together with an adjunct communication protocol that enables builders to construct extra shows and {hardware} integrations.
The corporate traces its involvement in touchscreen miners to late 2024, when it collaborated on the early idea of the Bitaxe Contact. When later variations of the machine shipped with closed-source firmware, Solo Satoshi determined to create its personal absolutely open-source various.
In response to the corporate, open-source bitcoin miners have collectively produced greater than $1 million in verifiable block rewards, together with a number of extensively publicized solo mining successes lately.
