The previous 12 months has skilled a growth in SPAC crypto mergers, with corporations like Core Scientific Inc. Bakkt and Cipher Mining being a number of notable examples. SAI.TECH (“SAI” or “the Firm”) bought on the wave of SPAC listings proper earlier than SPAC mergers bought harder. Having gotten formally listed on Nasdaq on Could 2nd, SAI is the primary “chip heating” idea inventory on the change, with its CEO & founder Arthur Lee additionally turning into the youngest Chinese language CEO ever listed.
Bitcoin has change into some of the engaging rising property in the marketplace in recent times, however the want for more and more energy-intensive computing infrastructure has triggered issues about its sustainability. By selling ESG commonplace applied sciences and options, SAI, as a worldwide energy-saving bitcoin mining operator and a clean-tech firm, is making an attempt to show to the market that the feasibility and the corporate’s enterprise mannequin would possibly leads bitcoin mining to a extra sustainable future. We sat down with Arthur to speak concerning the firm’s revolutionary know-how.
Q1: First, I want to congratulate SAI on getting listed on Nasdaq. Are you able to give our readers a short introduction of SAI? What’s the inspiration in your innovation?
My inspiration is predicated on what I see as the 2 main developments of the early twenty first century – sustainable growth and decentralized digital community. Over the previous 20 years, sustainable growth has change into a shared aim globally. One other pattern is, decentralized digital cryptocurrency like Bitcoin has skilled a growth, ushering in the way forward for internet 3.0. The excessive worth of Bitcoin has proved its significance however has in equal components been criticized for its excessive vitality consumption and un-sustainability. Consequently, methods to higher resolve the vitality consumption drawback whereas making certain the secure operation of the Bitcoin community has change into an unavoidable dilemma dealing with us.
As a Bitcoin mining operator, SAI foresaw this drawback as early as 2019 and has been actively searching for partnerships with massive mining swimming pools. With the assist from one in all our shut companions ViaBTC, a world-leading crypto mining pool, we launched SAIHUB, a cost-efficient answer created to cut back the excessive prices concerned within the mining course of. After three years of growth, SAIHUB has leapt from 1.0 to three.0. The most recent SAIHUB 3.0 is an built-in and decentralized answer designed to horizontally combine the computing, energy and heating industries to construct a extra environment friendly and sustainable infrastructure for Bitcoin mining.
Q2: How can the Bitcoin mining infrastructure change into extra sustainable? How does SAIHUB answer consider that?
In keeping with calculations, about 99% of the electrical energy consumed by Bitcoin mining machines turns into warmth vitality. This a part of the warmth vitality has been uncared for for a very long time, so it’s known as “waste warmth.” As an alternative of utilizing an additional big quantity of electrical energy to chill information facilities, our SAIHUB answer is capturing that waste warmth and utilizing it to defray vitality use elsewhere.
With the assistance of SAI’s patented waste warmth utilization know-how, 90% of the warmth generated by the mining course of could be recovered and reused into heating sources for numerous residential, business, industrial, and agricultural software eventualities.
In recent times, the usage of renewable vitality for Bitcoin mining has dropped considerably as numerous elements have led pure gasoline and coal to change into extra fashionable sources of energy for the business. This alteration has made SAI’s mission much more very important.
Q3: Are you able to introduce extra of the SAIHUB answer? What’s the historical past behind this answer?
The evolution of SAIHUB has gone by means of three phases. On the 1.0 stage (2019-2020), SAIHUB used 16nm chips. The ability was 50kw, with hash charges round 350T. This answer was capable of reuse waste warmth for single-house heating companies. The SAIHUB 2.0, 2020 – 2021, was a step ahead, adopting 7- 8nm chips, with the facility for a single SAIHUB being round 250kw and hash charges leaping to 5P. This model was sufficient to recycle the warmth for a small group or an agricultural greenhouse, thus enabling us to offer large-scale heating companies.
From 2022 onwards, SAI enters the SAIHUB 3.0 stage. SAIHUB 3.0 lowers the core prices of the mining course of, together with heating, energy, computing, and chip. We now have efficiently run three pilot initiatives of fresh computing information facilities, overlaying greater than 30,000 sq. meters of greenhouses, massive business buildings, and buying malls for heating.
At this stage, we’re keen to open up our patented liquid cooling and waste warmth restoration know-how to scale up the SAIHUB enterprise mannequin, improve the effectivity of the entire business along with our companions, together with ViaBTC Pool, and promote the clear transition of the computing business.
This fall: You simply talked about the partnership with ViaBTC Pool. May you please introduce this associate in additional element?
ViaBTC is our strategic associate and in addition one of many main supporters of SAIHUB. As an all-encompassing crypto mining pool established in 2016, ViaBTC is well-recognized for BTC mining and has intensive affect in that discipline.
As world warming escalates, the worldwide name for carbon neutrality can be rising stronger. The mining of PoW-based cryptos like Bitcoin consumes an enormous quantity of fossil vitality. ViaBTC shares our perception that we should always increase the innovation of fresh vitality applied sciences to enhance the utilization of fresh vitality in crypto mining and cut back its environmental affect.
On the identical time, we’ve additionally engaged in profound exchanges and cooperation with ViaBTC concerning the SaaS answer. Sooner or later, we additionally hope to associate up with extra corporations within the discipline of BTC mining that share our beliefs. Collectively, we’ll broaden the blockchain house and speed up the progress of Bitcoin.
Q5: SAI lately took a serious step into the tech market by getting listed on Nasdaq; what offers SAI a bonus within the aggressive market of Bitcoin mining innovation?
Bitcoin has all the time been related to excessive vitality prices and unsustainable infrastructure, and the large quantities of warmth produced have been a relentless trigger for concern. Few folks, nevertheless, have considered utilizing this useful resource as an asset, and this perception is what makes SAI stand out. Not solely that, however our firm additionally consists of an elite group with wealthy expertise within the discipline.
Though the price of electrical heating is presently increased than that of fossil vitality heating, as carbon taxes and numerous insurance policies improve the worth of fossil fuels, this may finally change. It’s estimated that the price of utilizing pure gasoline to acquire warmth can be about 65% increased than that of electrical heating by 2050, which means that heating will inevitably be primarily electrical. On this case, SAIHUB has an inherent benefit over fossil fuel-based heating options in the long run.
Let’s assessment the carbon neutrality roadmap dedicated by the world’s main nations. Most developed nations, together with the US, Japan, and the UK, have set the deadline to be 2050. Nevertheless, the current Russian-Ukrainian tensions have introduced the European vitality market to a standstill. Along with the worth improve of greater than 200% for pure gasoline, nations like the UK should rethink utilizing coal to exchange pure gasoline energy era. The contribution worth of fresh vitality to realize carbon neutrality might also require a substantial discount in consumption ranges in line with present forecasts, which implies that within the subsequent twenty-eight years, vitality effectivity plans corresponding to these represented by SAIHUB will tackle extra duties, which is a problem, but in addition a uncommon historic alternative.
