Part 6/14:
Both experts observe that the ASIC market is heavily concentrated, with Bitmain and MicroBT holding significant market share. The complex manufacturing process involves upfront payments to foundries like TSMC and Samsung, which limits transparency around total production volume. They speculate that private companies such as Core Scientific and Atlas may also be significant players, but details remain elusive.
Amanda highlights the ongoing efforts by companies like Blockstream to develop their own ASICs, which could introduce new competitors. However, it remains clear that the industry’s dominant players have a strong head start, making it challenging for new entrants to penetrate the market quickly.