tl;dr
Jack Dorsey's fintech company Block has introduced the Proto Rig, a durable Bitcoin mining rig designed to last 10 years with swappable parts to reduce maintenance and upgrade costs by 15-20%. The rig aims to address frequent breakdowns and promote hardware decentralization amid rising mining costs ...
Jack Dorsey's fintech company Block has unveiled its latest innovation in Bitcoin mining technology: the Proto Rig, a durable mining rig designed to last 10 years, significantly longer than the typical three-to-five-year lifespan of current models. This new rig features swappable parts, such as hashboards, allowing miners to upgrade individual components instead of replacing the entire machine, which is expected to reduce maintenance and upgrade costs by 15-20% per cycle.
Thomas Templeton, Block’s hardware lead, emphasized that traditional mining machines are prone to frequent breakdowns, costly repairs, and inefficient use of resources. The Proto Rig aims to tackle these issues while promoting hardware decentralization within the Bitcoin mining community. This development comes amid rising mining costs and reduced rewards following the latest Bitcoin halving, which cut mining payouts from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC per block.
Bitcoin mining remains a challenging and energy-intensive endeavor, typically dominated by industrial-scale mining operations. Notably, MARA Holdings recently reported a 505% increase in net income, buoyed by Bitcoin price rises, although many mining firms are diversifying into areas such as artificial intelligence and Ethereum treasury management to mitigate ongoing challenges. Meanwhile, U.S. political figures like Donald Trump have expressed aspirations to make the U.S. a dominant Bitcoin mining hub, though much of the mining hardware is currently produced overseas, especially in China. Dorsey’s initiative to manufacture mining rigs domestically represents a strategic move toward reshaping the industry’s geography.
Beyond mining rigs, Block has expanded its Bitcoin product lineup through its subsidiaries Square and Cash App, offering solutions like crypto hardware wallets and integrated Bitcoin payments for merchants. Despite recent stock volatility with a slight dip and a year-to-date decline, Block continues to make strides in the cryptocurrency space. Bitcoin itself recently experienced a slight pullback from an all-time high but has nonetheless surged by over 25% since early 2025, maintaining strong market momentum.