Introduction
While lacking in performance, micro Bitcoin mining devices should be seen as a stand against the Bitcoin ecosystem’s purportedly biggest flaw, its inventors argue.
Micro Bitcoin mining devices
Micro Bitcoin mining devices — often open-source and pocket-sized — have been serving a niche part of the market, offering buyers a fully assembled device or a do-it-yourself-kit to mine Bitcoin (BTC) solo.
Fighting the secrecy and exclusivity
Speaking to Cointelegraph, developers behind these kits admit that buyers won’t likely see much profit but argue that it’s important to fight the "secrecy and exclusivity" of the Bitcoin mining industry.
Cost and output
One company, BitMaker, recently claimed that one could be made for as little as $3, offering an output of 50 kilohashes per second.
Secrecy in the mining industry
A spokesperson from BitMaker — a company working on micro miners since as early as June 2022 — argued that all the well-known Bitcoin ASIC mining rigs are closed-source, very much unlike Bitcoin’s source code. This has limited the manufacturing and supply of Bitcoin miners to commercialized entities, they said.
Enabling transparency
Skot, a builder of Bitaxe miners, shared a similar sentiment, explaining to Cointelegraph that open-sourcing the design enables much-needed transparency in the industry.
Decentralization
Skot also stressed that the portable miners weren’t built to compete with the commercialized players in the space but rather offer an opportunity for people to run a rig at home without needing to pay for a clunky, overheated, and expensive mining rig.
Conclusion
While micro Bitcoin mining devices may not bring in significant profits, they represent a push towards transparency and accessibility in the Bitcoin mining industry. These devices offer an opportunity for individuals to become part of the mining community and contribute to the decentralization of the system.
