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What is an ASIC?
An ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) is a chip built to do one job. In Bitcoin, ASIC miners do nothing but compute the SHA-256 hashes that proof-of-work mining needs, far faster than the general-purpose processors in ordinary computers.
What it means for you
An ASIC built for Bitcoin's SHA-256 cannot mine coins that use other hashing algorithms or do other computing work, and newer, faster models make older ones uneconomic to run. Its value is tied almost entirely to mining.
How it works
Mining software hands the ASIC an 80-byte block header. The chip changes the header's nonce and hashes it again and again, looking for a result that does not exceed the network target. A 4-byte nonce gives only about 4 gigahashes of attempts, which modern hardware exhausts quickly, so the controlling software has to supply new work several times a second. Because the circuit implements SHA-256 hashing and nothing else, it has little use once newer models outpace it.
Sources: Bitcoin Developer Guide: Mining, Toward Thermodynamic Reservoir Computing: Exploring SHA-256 ASICs as Potential Physical Substrates (arXiv) · checked 4 October 2026
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