The crypto-mining company formerly known as Hive Blockchain Technologies is pivoting to artificial intelligence and web3, and has changed its name accordingly.
The Vancouver-based miner has dropped the “blockchain” marker and said that its new branding as Hive Digital Technologies is intended to reflect “its mission to drive advancements” in AI applications like ChatGPT, and to “support the new web3 ecosystem.”
Hive intends to use its existing fleet of Nvidia graphics processing units “for computational tasks on a massive scale,” according to a July 12 filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Read: Bitcoin Miners Are Churning Out More Computing Power Than Ever
The vast majority of crypto-mining companies are focused on Bitcoin and use specialized chips that are different from so-called GPUs. Hive is among a handful of companies that deploy GPUs at scale to mine Ether, the second largest cryptocurrency by market value.
A recent set of changes on the Ethereum blockchain has meant that these GPUs are no longer necessary, which is a problem for the Ether miners who hold large stocks of them.
Read: AI Needs Special Processors. Crypto Miners Say They Have Them
The rise of ChatGPT and other apps has sparked soaring demand for high-end GPUs and related cloud services. But the pivot from crypto mining to providing high-performance computing power for AI can be difficult given the distinct setups within data centers.
Somewhere between 5% and 15% of existing crypto-oriented GPUs can be repurposed for AI and adjacent applications like computer vision and generative graphic design, according to Bitpro Consulting.
Bitcoin miners face a number of headwinds despite the recent rallies in the token’s price. Rising power costs, more competition among miners and an increasingly stringent regulatory environment have weighed on their share prices.
Some crypto miners have been trying to diversify their businesses to contend with the shifting economics of their industry.
Bitcoin miner Hut 8 Mining Corp. offers high-performance computing power to a variety of firms including financial services companies and gaming startups. Crusoe Energy Systems Inc. is expanding its GPU fleet to attract more AI customers, besides its Bitcoin mining operations powered by stranded gas. And Riot Platforms dropped “blockchain” from its name in January to reflect its more diversified business operations.
Read: Bitcoin Miner Riot Drops Blockchain From Name After Rough Year
Hive’s stock closed at $5.66 on Tuesday, down 4.6% on the day. As of 1:25 p.m. in New York, its shares were halted pending news.
Read: Bitcoin ‘Halving’ Risks Sinking Already-Struggling Miners
(In tenth paragraph, corrects reference to Hut 8’s data center and computational offerings)
