Born in Valencia, Venezuelan engineer Jose Rios toured the long journey from his high school studies in Caracas to becoming an important figure in Silicon Valley.
After graduating from computer engineering in the US, he devoted his 25-year career to Intel and became vice president of Custom Solutions, a division specializing in the design of custom chips. Two years ago, the company found itself Start it It focuses on Bitcoin’s decentralized accounting technology known as “blockchain.” But first, he led a singular project: the development of the first Bitcoin mining chip not manufactured in China called Intel Blocksale ASIC.
The chip’s history, launched in 2022, is known for an exclusive cryptographic interview with Joserios, and was created at the intersection of the river experience of semiconductors and the emerging markets he himself had to defend within the company.
During his stay at Intel, Ríos worked Data Center Consumer products such as chips that supply Apple computers. However, his role in custom solutions gave him a unique perspective.
“I had the privilege of seeing more or less the Silicon Valley company I live in. It was in this context. My Bitcoin chip idea was born, An integrated circuit for specific applications (ASICs) designed to ensure “blockchain,” an accounting record based on blockchain that supports Cryptoactive.
Unlike traditional processors (CPUs) or graphics units (GPUs), ASICs are versatile, but less efficient for certain tasks. The Intel chip is based on the SHA-256 algorithm, the open source encryption standard used by Bitcoin for mining operations. This algorithm generates a hash (a unique data chain) that miners use to validate transactions and add blocks to Bitcoin accounting.
“The Bitcoin Mine algorithm is a fairly simple algorithm, so using a chip that is the same size as the CPU is a real waste,” says Ríos. The simplicity of the SHA-256 makes ASIC an ideal tool. And Rios saw an opportunity for Inter to enter the field.
Creating such semiconductors is not an easy task. Each design requires a complex process in a specialized factory where chemical layers on a silicon wafer are deposited to form a circuit. Manufacturing Cost This ranges from $15 to $20 million per design and does not count previous engineeringand only a few companies dominating this market by Intel, TSMC and Samsung.
Until then, Bitcoin ASICs came mainly from China, integrated into a complete system and sold for large-scale mining operations. Intel, under the guide of Ríos, tried to beat that agency. “What we did to make sure we could sell chips directly was to diversify our dependency on seven, eight and ten large miners around the world,” says Rios.
However, within Intel, the project was not immediately received with enthusiasm. Rios faced skepticism and criticism. «The first thing I heard: Well, but that of Bitcoin is used for illegal things, right? And that’s what Bitcoin burns a lot of energy, and that’s killing the planet,” recalls Jose Rios.
He believes he had to take on an additional role to move forward. Educate and defend the code-activeness of some peers’ misconceptions. “It was a pretty powerful educational task for me and I think I had to do most of the evangelism,” he adds. This effort was essential to convince them that they had initially placed bets on a project that seemed to be separate from Intel’s traditional priorities.
The technology development is appreciative of the team of 60 engineers selected by Ríos. It took a year and a half to two years to design. Record time of four years before that complex CPUs require. “Usually two years is fast,” Ríos said, highlighting the project won an internal award for that speed. Bringing chips to mass production was another challenge. “The hardest thing about either of these projects is to make them in large quantities, high yields,” explains Joserios, whose X is @siliconjose. His team achieved a 99% yield. That means that Almost every chip produced meets the required specifications.
The chip based on SHA-256 came to the market in 2022 with a complete pandemic. Nevertheless, he presented himself at a Bitcoin Conference in Miami in 2022 after negotiations with clients such as Hive, Argo, Grid and Block who purchased these chips. This project has a technical legacy. This article details four IEEE patents and the progress of circuit design by Intel.
Still, as reported by Cryptootics, production was not able to withstand. The cryptocurrency market has entered the “crypto winter” as Intel faces financial pressures that have led to prioritizing laptop and computer chips.
According to Ríos, the business was sold to Jack Dorsey’s company Block. Jack Dorsey has integrated intellectual property into his own efforts to advance Bitcoin mining.
Intel’s chips were driven by Rivers’ work using personalized design and Bitcoin defense, showing that it is possible to challenge China’s domination in this sector. Although its commercial cycle was short, along with technol giant Intel, Rios opened a decentralising pass to Bitcoin, leaving a mark in the semiconductor industry.
