The Digital Mining Solutions team was on the ground at the Bitcoin Conference 2025 in Las Vegas—an event that drew over 35,000 attendees and where mining took center stage. More than half of the trade show floor was dedicated to mining-related companies, and the Mining Stage hosted packed sessions on hardware, infrastructure, and energy strategy. It’s clear: mining is no longer a side track—it’s front and center in Bitcoin’s evolution. This special edition of our newsletter covers some key insights we saw at the event. From Bitmain’s new Antminer S23 Hydro to the convergence with traditional data centers, we break down the trends and technologies shaping the future of Bitcoin mining.
Antminer S23 Hydro Announcement
The Race to Sub-10 J/TH Efficiency
The First 1 PH/s ASIC Miner
2025 Predictions Taking Shape
The New Frontiers in ASIC Innovation
Operational Efficiency Is Survival
Cooling as a Strategic Lever
Convergence With Traditional Data Centers
What Comes Next?
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Antminer S23 Hydro Announcement
Bitmain made headlines last week at WDMS 2025 with the unveiling of its new Antminer S23 Hydro. The miner delivers a hashrate of 580 TH/s at 5,510 watts, translating to an industry-leading efficiency of 9.5 J/TH. The shipments are expected in Q1 2026.
The Race to Sub-10 J/TH Efficiency
A few months ago, Bitdeer shared its technological roadmap, which includes the fourth-generation SEALMINER, targeting sub-10 J/TH efficiency with mass production scheduled for Q4 2025. In early March, the company announced the successful testing of its latest Bitcoin mining chip, SEAL03, following its tape-out. The chip achieved a power efficiency of 9.7 J/TH while running in low-voltage, ultra power-saving mode.
SEAL03 will be integrated into the upcoming SEALMINER A3 series. However, this hardware is expected to have an efficiency just above 10 J/TH, meaning the true sub-10 J/TH milestone at the ASIC level will likely be reached with the SEALMINER A4.
The race to single-digit efficiency is heating up. Will Bitdeer beat Bitmain to market with sub-10 J/TH hardware, or will another manufacturer steal the spotlight?
The First 1 PH/s ASIC Miner
In addition to the Antminer S23 Hydro, Bitdeer also announced another exciting unit: the Antminer U3S23 Hyd. This model features a 3U form factor and, more notably, breaks through the 1 PH/s mark for a single machine. Delivering 1,160 TH/s of hashrate with a power consumption of 11,020 watts, it operates at an impressive efficiency of 9.5 J/TH.
2025 Predictions Taking Shape
In its 2024 Review report, Digital Mining Solutions made seven predictions for the year ahead, three of which focused on the ASIC hardware market. Two of those forecasts—the launch of the first 1 PH/s miner and the shift toward single-digit efficiency—now appear likely to materialize in 2025 or shortly thereafter.
The third prediction pointed to a potential S19 series comeback, reminiscent of the S9’s surprising resurgence in 2020. Back then, S9 units had lost over 95% of their value, with some miners giving them away. But as Bitcoin entered the later stages of the bull market and mining margins improved, S9s became profitable again, and prices surged from under $4/TH to over $50/TH.
For the S19 series to follow a similar path, hashprice would need to rise above $60/PH/day—a key profitability threshold for operators using ASICs in the 30+ J/TH range—in a sustained way. In addition, tariff-related price increases could become another factor driving renewed demand and value of units already located in the U.S..
The New Frontiers in ASIC Innovation
As the industry pushes toward sub-10 J/TH efficiency and 1 PH/s miners, it’s becoming increasingly clear that hashrate and energy efficiency alone won’t define long-term success in the ASIC hardware arms race. The next generation of mining machines must offer adaptability, resilience, and intelligent operational features.
At The Bitcoin Conference, Auradine showcased its latest TeraFlux ASIC miners, demonstrating how manufacturers are responding to these new demands. Features include:
Adaptive efficiency settings for dynamic power management
Resilient hashboard design that continues operating even with multiple ASIC chip failures
Hot-swappable PSUs, allowing replacement without removing the miner from the rack
A fleet management platform with open APIs for seamless integration
An LED display providing real-time system diagnostics
These innovations point to a broader industry shift: ASIC mining is no longer just about pushing silicon, it’s about creating smarter, more manageable systems. As mining margins tighten and operations scale, automation, flexibility, and operational control will be just as critical as raw efficiency in maintaining profitability and competitiveness.
Operational Efficiency Is Survival
During a panel discussion on the Mining Stage at The Bitcoin Conference 2025 in Las Vegas, Digital Mining Solutions moderated a session with leading cooling experts. The conversation focused on a critical post-halving reality: while the 2024 halving slashed block subsidy by 50%, the network hashrate has continued to climb aggressively—from 633 EH/s at the halving to 935 EH/s by early June, an increase of over 300 EH/s, or 47%.
With tight margins becoming the new normal and ASIC efficiency gains nearing their limits, the mining industry is entering a new phase, one centered around total system optimization. Every watt counts, not just inside the machines, but across the entire facility.
This is why Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) is emerging as the next competitive battleground. Miners must now ask a critical question: How much of their energy bill actually goes into hashing, and how much is being lost to supporting infrastructure like cooling?
Cooling as a Strategic Lever
Many miners are opting for liquid cooling—whether hydro or immersion—because of its clear advantages: lower noise levels, more stable operating temperatures (which reduce wear and tear), extended hardware lifespan, higher power and hashrate density, and improved heat reuse potential. Liquid-cooled systems also offer the best efficiency both at the ASIC level and the facility level.
However, these benefits come at a cost. Hydro and immersion cooling require significantly higher CapEx, more complex infrastructure, and less flexibility compared to air-cooled setups. That raises a key question: does high-efficiency cooling always deliver the best return on investment? The answer isn’t always yes.
With ASIC prices at historic lows, many miners still find air cooling to be the more financially viable option—especially for sites with uptime below the industry standard of 95%. While liquid cooling delivers longer hardware lifespans and greater density, its upfront infrastructure costs can outweigh the benefits in current environment where capital is better spent maximizing hashrate.
In the end, the decision isn’t black and white. It’s a strategic balance between CapEx and OpEx, performance and flexibility, longevity and liquidity.
Convergence With Traditional Data Centers
Another signal of the industry’s evolution which was discussed during the panel is the growing adoption of 2U and 3U form factors in next-generation mining equipment. These rack-mounted designs echo traditional server architecture and hint at the first steps of convergence between mining and broader data center infrastructure.
The move toward standardized dimensions, modular cooling solutions, and rack-based management reflects a maturing industry. This trend opens the door to multi-use facilities where mining rigs, AI accelerators, and high-performance computing (HPC) hardware could coexist within shared infrastructure, especially if cooling systems are designed to support varied workloads.
The question isn’t just whether miners should adopt better cooling, it’s whether cooling infrastructure can be versatile enough to support Bitcoin mining today and AI/HPC workloads tomorrow.
What Comes Next?
As we enter the sub-10 J/TH era, miners will need to expand their focus beyond the machine itself. The future of efficiency lies in facility design, cooling systems, and software applications for operational precision.
Manufacturers like Bitmain and Bitdeer may be winning headlines with their hardware breakthroughs, but the real winners in the coming years will be those who can operate lean, optimize relentlessly, and adapt their infrastructure for what’s coming next.
The age of mining as a siloed industry is ending. The age of mining as part of the broader compute infrastructure stack is just beginning.
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