Sapphire optimistic about launch of new Grin coin miner

Sapphire Technology are hoping to finally make home crypto mining both possible and profitable again.

The company has announced they will soon release the first in a new family of ‘blockchain’ miners, with the focus of its latest model to mine the newly launched Grin cryptocurrency.

For users who want to self-install

Sapphire Technology is a leading manufacturer and global supplier of components and commercial solutions with over 15 years of manufacturing experience.

The company’s new GPU miner, called the RX 570 16GB HDMI Blockchain Graphics Card, will soon be available to order as a standalone card, ideal for users who wish to self-install.

Why Grin?

Sapphire stated in the product announcement that they liked Grin because it was a “community-based cryptocurrency that aims to address a number of deficiencies associated with other cryptocurrencies like privacy and scalability.”

“Designed to be truly decentralized and fully democratized, the GRIN coin has been developed openly by developers and distributed all over the world without being controlled by any company, foundation, or individual.”

PoW-based consensus

Grin’s basic Proof-of-Work (PoW) algorithm is called “Cuckoo Cycle”, and it was “specifically designed to be resistant to a Bitcoin-style SHA-256 arms race.” As the algorithm is primarily a memory bound one, the solution time is bound by memory bandwidth rather than the raw processor’s capability or GPU speed.

Sapphire went on to say that “unlike other 12 and 16GB cards on the market, which tend to be for industrial or professional applications and thus carry a heavy premium, the 16GB RX 570 is superbly positioned for early Grin coin miners.”

At the moment, it’s not clear how much the card will cost or exactly when it will be available, only that its release is imminent.