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Manufacturers Are Building ASICs That Look More Like Servers. Here’s Why: Blockspace

In the beginning, there were only CPUs, then GPUs, for bitcoin mining. Then came the mighty ASIC in 2013, and with it, the “shoebox” form factor that has become emblematic of the bitcoin mining industry.
What comes next? Will the shoebox design persist as standard for bitcoin mining ASICs? Or will another form factor that more resembles traditional datacenter servers win out?
ASIC manufacturers are increasingly betting on the latter – or at least, that a hydro-cooled server rack design will become a substantial portion of bitcoin mining fleets. Moreover, they’re leaning into the “direct-to-chip” cooling for further efficiency gains.
Last September, Bitmain announced its model U3S21EXPH (a bit of a mouthful, eh?) developed in a partnership with Hut 8. Its U3 design means that one unit takes up three spaces in a traditional server rack. MicroBT soon followed with its M63 Hydro series, as did Bitdeer’s Sealminer A2 Hydro unit.
Following suit, Auradine released its server rack model, the AH3880, this March. Its U2 design, which occupies two server slots, is a bit smaller, but it packs more hashrate per unit of space at 600 TH/s (or 300 TH/s per slot) versus Bitmain’s 860 TH/s (286.66 TH/s per slot).
Shoebox out
So, what’s with the switch up from the traditional shoe box? For Auradine, it’s all about customer demand.
“[Our new model is] based upon a lot of feedback that we got from our miner customers … we’ve been working with the miners even throughout the design process,” Auradine CSO Sanjay Gupta said on the most recent Mining Pod. “They indicated to us that they were looking for a quality hydro based miner.”
In its partnership with Bitmain for the U3S21EXPH, “Hut 8 was instrumental in the custom design for the infrastructure, particularly the U form factor which is compatible with HPC style architecture,” Hut 8 Head of Investor Relations Sue Ennis told Blockspace last September. (More on the high performance computing angle later).
The benefit of a server rack ASIC lies in standardization. Bitcoin miners are increasingly marching in step with the traditional datacenter industry, and that industry could see 40% adoption of direct liquid-to-chip cooling by 2026, according to data center developer Cyrus One.
If miners adopt this design, then theoretically, they can optimize their supply chains by converging on server designs that are becoming best practice in the big-boy data center sector.
This could make building and repairing bitcoin mines easier. And it could also make mining companies more nimble if they want to flex out of bitcoin mining and into other forms of compute.
Enter AI and HPC
As with so much mining news today, of course the spectre of AI is looming in the background.
If miners construct their data centers with traditional server rack designs, there is one less pain point if they want to retrofit these sites for AI and HPC loads. Of course, they’d still need to augment the sinews, muscles and veins of their operations with more robust networking and electrical infrastructure, but server racks would provide a backbone for AI/HPC services that requires less restructuring than legacy bitcoin mines. As Ennis put it, “the U form factor … is compatible with HPC style architecture.”
Echoing this, Gupta said in our Mining Pod interview that “[The U form factor has] been used for the AI data center. It’s easy to adjust. It’s got a high [power] density to it … [it] is extremely relevant for AI data centers as well, and we are looking at a joint strategy between AI for HPC and Bitcoin mining. So the U form factor works well with that.”
Who’s buying it?
Perhaps needless to say, the server rack form factor for bitcoin mining is still in its infancy, and while there is promise that such a design could win out, there’s no guarantee.
To start, bitcoin miners will not only need to rework the innards of their mines but also completely rewire their electrical infrastructure (which is unlikely to happen at existing mines).
Cholla’s Brad Cuddy, which operates hydro-cooled ASIC miners, told Blockspace last September that “he’s excited to see the shift from the shoebox design to the [server rack] form factor.” But he said the U3S21EXPH’s voltage range is incompatible with certain electrical infrastructure that miners use with other Bitmain models.
“The restricted range of 380 to 415 volts reduces its compatibility for retrofitting. I would have liked to see the voltage range go all the way up to 480 volts to allow for more interoperability with current infrastructure deployments,” he said.
As such, it’s likely that we’ll see miners integrate these units at new sites. Hut 8 is taking this approach with plans to host 15 EH/s of U3S21EXPH units for Bitmain (with an option to purchase) at its Vega, Texas site, which is due to start operating in Q2.
So far, Hut 8 is the only public buyer of Bitmain’s U3S21EXPH. Gupta did not reveal which miners are under contract for its AH3880, but he did say they include several industrial scale private and public miners. It wouldn’t be surprising to see MARA, one of Auradine’s key partners which has also invested upwards of $50 million in the company, adopt the model.
Should Hut 8’s Vega site run smoothly on Bitmain’s model, and if we assume that MARA will deploy Auradine’s, public miners may lead where others will follow, and we could see a new form factor slowly seep into modern mine design.
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Bitcoin May be on 25% of S&P 500 Firms’ Balance Sheets by 2030: Architect Partners

Bitcoin is making its way from trading desks to corporate treasuries, and by the end of the decade, it could be standard practice, according to one analyst.
“Across all the different strategies and implementations, I anticipate that by 2030, a quarter of the S&P 500 will have BTC somewhere on their balance sheets as a long-term asset,” Elliot Chun, a partner at Architect Partners, wrote in a market snapshot.
The strategy—holding bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset—was unorthodox when Strategy, formerly known as MicroStrategy, first adopted it in August 2020. The firm framed BTC as a hedge against inflation, a diversification tool, and a way to distinguish itself in the market.
Then CEO Michael Saylor’s highly public embrace of bitcoin transformed the company into a de facto proxy for BTC exposure. Since then, MicroStrategy stock has surged more than 2,000%, far outpacing both the S&P 500 and bitcoin over the same period, Chun pointed out.
GameStop is the latest company to follow suit, announcing this week that it would raise $1.3 billion through a convertible note to acquire bitcoin. Its stock initially surged following the announcement but has since endured a correction, falling nearly 15% for the week.
Chun argued that treasurers may soon face career risk not for buying bitcoin, but for ignoring it altogether. “Doing nothing is no longer a defensible strategy,” he wrote.
According to BitcoinTreasuries data, publicly listed companies currently hold 665,618 BTC, around 3.17% of the cryptocurrency’s total supply. Strategy holds the lion’s share, 506,137 BTC.
Read more: U.S. Listed Firms Continue Bitcoin (BTC) Treasury Adoption
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Chart of The Week: Will April Bring Good Luck or Fool’s Hope for Bitcoin?

It’s a bloodbath for digital assets, with traders hitting the sell button, wiping out over $160 billion of the total cryptocurrency market cap since Friday.
Few things have compounded as the first quarter of this year closes out, leading to the sell-off, including Trump’s tariff threats, global economic concerns and the lack of a clear catalyst for the next leg up.
However, if history is anything to go by, there might be some glimmer of hope heading into the second quarter, as April could bring a bullish setup for crypto.
Based on the total percent return since 2010, April has brought in an average 27% return for bitcoin, marking it the third-best month, according to Barchart data. November and May were the other two months with the highest returns, with about 38% and 26% gains, respectively.
As CoinDesk analyst Omkar Godbole reported for Crypto Daybook Americas—a premium newsletter offering to help traders make informed investment decisions—this seasonality could be a much-needed positive indicator for the market.
«Seasonality factors are not as reliable as standalone indicators, but when coupled with other signs, such as the recent halt in selling by long-term holders, they appear credible,» Godbole wrote.
One cog in the wheel may be the defunct exchange Mt. Gox’s transfer of a significant amount of bitcoin to the centralized exchange’s wallets, which could create fear of creditors’ liquidations.
«A potential short-term risk is Mt. Gox, which has been transferring sizable amounts of BTC to Kraken—this may lead to temporary selling pressure or market volatility,» said Deribit CEO Luuk Strijers.
Read more: Now Is ‘Really Good Time’ to Buy Bitcoin, Says Trillion Dollar Investment Manager
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Terraform Labs to Open Claims Portal for Investors on March 31

Terraform Labs, the firm behind the collapsed Luna token and the TerraUSD stablecoin, will open a portal on March 31 to allow investors to file claims for crypto losses tied to the company’s downfall and subsequent bankruptcy.
The online system, operated by claims administrator Kroll, is part of the company’s court-supervised wind-down process. Investors have until April 30 at 11:59 p.m. ET to submit claims through claims.terra.money. Late submissions will not be considered, meaning those who miss the deadline forfeit their right to any recovery, according to a Medium post.
Eligible claims must be tied to specific cryptocurrencies listed in the case documents and held during the period surrounding the Terra ecosystem’s collapse. Notably, assets with less than $100 in on-chain liquidity and certain others—like Terra 2.0’s Luna—will not qualify.
Claimants must also submit proof of ownership. The preferred method is read-only API keys from exchanges, which the administrator considers more reliable than screenshots or manually uploaded documents. The post adds that those using manual evidence may face extended review periods or risk their claims being denied altogether.
Once filed, claims will be reviewed and verified. Initial decisions will be shared within 90 days after the deadline and approved claims will be eligible for pro rata distributions once processing concludes.
The Terra ecosystem collapsed in 2022, leading to the largest destruction of wealth in just three days in the cryptocurrency space’s history. LUNA’s market capitalization plunged from over $41 billion to $6 million in that period.
Read more: Terraform Labs, Do Kwon Agree to Pay SEC a Combined $4.5B in Civil Fraud Case
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