Block, Inc. (NYSE: XYZ) unveiled Proto Rig, a modular bitcoin mining system, and Proto Fleet, an open-source fleet management software.
The announcement, made during an event held at Proto customer Core Scientific’s facility in Dalton, GA, where Proto Rigs “are mining as part of their fleet, represents a step toward decentralizing bitcoin mining hardware, opening access to more builders, and increasing network resiliency.”
These mark the first two end-to-end releases by Proto, Block’s suite of bitcoin mining “products and services, following its initial chip sale to Core Scientific.”
Moving away from disposable hardware models, Proto Rig is “designed to be infrastructure—a paradigm shift that solves many existing pain points for miners and signals the company’s commitment to the industry.”
Proto Rig’s modular design lets operators upgrade individual hashboards without replacing entire units, “transforming what has historically been a 3-5 year disposable asset into a 10-year infrastructure investment, reducing costs by 15-20% each upgrade cycle.”
It also allows for easy, in-place, tool-free repair, “turning a process that can take hours, days, or weeks into one that takes seconds, saving miners valuable time and resources.”
With power density and maximum miner uptime, Proto Rig delivers 1.5 times the “power per foot of rack space compared to traditional mining hardware.”
Designed to be compatible with modern and legacy infrastructure, Proto Rig gives mining operators the power to “maximize efficiency in their existing facilities without requiring extensive retrofitting, addressing long-standing challenges in power utilization and lifecycle management.”
Alongside Proto Rig, Block also announced Proto Fleet, comprehensive, open-source fleet management software “that brings together power-scaling, monitoring, diagnostics, and maintenance tools in a single, intuitive platform.”
Proto Fleet brings together many functionalities that have “historically required their own, individual pieces of software to manage, helping miners streamline operations, maximize uptime, and minimize time spent troubleshooting.”
A big part of Proto’s effort to decentralize mining, Proto Fleet will “be available for anyone to use, at no cost, giving mining operators of all sizes access to powerful fleet management software.”
All of these advancements together—”on-rack, tool-free repairability, high-quality components, swappable hashboards, and backwards compatibility—mean more uptime across install, repairs, upgrades, and ultimately the life of the machine.”
The reveal of both products builds “on Block’s track record of building technology and rounds out the company’s commitment to bitcoin across Square, Cash App, Bitkey, and Spiral.”
As noted in the update, Proto Global, LLC, as an affiliate of Block, Inc. is Block’s “suite of bitcoin mining products and services.”
Its mission is to decentralize mining by “increasing access to tools for builders, regardless of their size or location.”
By entering the mining hardware space, Proto is taking “a key step toward that goal.”
As mentioned in the announcement, Block, Inc. builds “technology to increase access to the global economy.”
Each of their brands unlocks different aspects of the economy “for more people. Square makes commerce and financial services accessible to sellers.”
Cash App is the easy way to “spend, send, and store money.”
Afterpay is transforming the way customers “manage their spending over time.”
TIDAL is a music platform that empowers artists “to thrive as entrepreneurs.”
Bitkey is a simple self-custody wallet “built for bitcoin.”
Proto is a suite of bitcoin mining products and services.
Together, they’re helping build a financial system that is said to be “open to everyone.”