Bitcoin mining hardware manufacturer Avalon, the company that produced the world’s first consumer ASIC miner, made a dramatic return to the market in November 2015 with the launch of its new A3218 mining chip and the Avalon6 miner. The announcement, paired with a global distribution partnership with BlockC, signaled renewed competition in an industry increasingly dominated by Bitmain.
TL;DR
- Avalon releases A3218 ASIC chip inside the new Avalon6 miner, its first major product in years
- Each Avalon6 server delivers 3.65 TH/s at 0.29 W/GH power efficiency using 80 A3218 chips
- BlockC becomes exclusive global distributor outside China, with first units arriving November 12
- Priced at $14,950 for a batch of 10 servers (36.5 TH/s), roughly 30% cheaper than Bitmain’s competing offer
- Avalon sticks with proven 28nm process node, passing on unproven 14nm technology
The A3218 Chip and Avalon6 Specifications
The new A3218 chip represents Avalon’s latest generation of mining technology, packaged into the Avalon6 miner. Each server processes 3.65 terahashes per second at a power efficiency of 0.29 watts per gigahash, composed of 80 individual A3218 chips. The system requires a minimum 12V DC power supply with 1,100 watts output.
Notably, Avalon chose to stick with its 28nm ASIC chip design rather than chase the increasingly popular 14nm process node. According to Sean Walsh, founder of BlockC, the decision was deliberate. Avalon was offered the 14nm Samsung chip months prior but declined. “The 14nm process node is very new, very slow to design and produce, very difficult, very expensive, and doesn’t currently yield efficiency gains that even come close to compensating for all this,” Walsh explained. Avalon’s position was clear: it would move to smaller process nodes only when the economics made sense.
BlockC Partnership and Pricing Advantage
The global distribution deal with BlockC represented a significant strategic shift for Avalon’s parent company, Canaan Creative. Under the agreement, BlockC became the exclusive distributor for all Avalon products and services outside of China, providing a streamlined channel for international customers.
The pricing was competitive. One petahash of processing power through BlockC and Avalon cost approximately $350,000 to $360,000, compared to Bitmain’s advertised price of roughly $380,000 per petahash. But the real advantage was delivery timing. Bitmain was not shipping miners until mid-December, a full month after BlockC’s expected ship dates. As Walsh calculated, one petahash was earning approximately $90,000 per month in gross profit at current Bitcoin prices around $338. Getting hardware online a month earlier translated to an effective savings of over 30 percent.
A Legacy in Bitcoin Mining
Avalon’s return carried historical weight in the Bitcoin community. Canaan Creative, Avalon’s parent company, was founded in 2012 by NG Zhang, Jiaxuan Li, and Xiangfu Liu. The company released the Icarus FPGA miner in early 2012, followed by the Lancelot. But Avalon’s claim to fame came in October 2012, when it began developing the first Bitcoin ASIC miner using a 110nm chip. The device launched less than a year later, fundamentally transforming Bitcoin mining from a hobbyist GPU activity into an industrial enterprise.
The company faced challenges during 2013 due to production delays and some overly optimistic public claims, but ultimately resolved the issues and refunded many customers generously in Bitcoin. Throughout its history, Avalon released five generations of ASIC chips across 110nm, 55nm, 40nm, and two 28nm designs.
A Growing Competitive Landscape
Avalon’s return to the public mining hardware market was particularly significant because several other manufacturers had begun keeping their hardware in-house rather than selling to retail customers. With fewer public options available, an additional competitor promising competitive pricing and faster delivery could spur continued development in mining chip technology.
BlockC expected the first batch of Avalon6 miners to arrive at their California datacenters by November 12, 2015. The company was selling servers in batches of 10, providing 36.5 TH/s for $14,950. With Bitcoin trading at $338.15 and mining difficulty steadily climbing toward the 2016 halving event, the economics of mining hardware were becoming an increasingly critical calculation for operators worldwide.
Why This Matters
Avalon’s return to the mining hardware market in November 2015 represented more than just a product launch. It was a reminder that competition drives innovation in Bitcoin mining, an industry that was rapidly consolidating around a few dominant players. The decision to prioritize practical economics over cutting-edge manufacturing nodes demonstrated a mature approach to product development. At a time when Bitcoin was priced at $338 and mining was becoming increasingly industrialized, the Avalon6 offered miners a viable alternative to Bitmain’s near-monopoly, helping maintain the decentralized spirit that underpinned Bitcoin’s original vision.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Cryptocurrency markets are highly volatile, and past performance is not indicative of future results.
0.29 W per GH on the Avalon6. my current S21 does 17.5 W per TH. the efficiency jump in 10 years of ASIC development is staggering
avalon6 at 3.65 th/s for roughly $1,495 per unit. you can buy a miner today that does petahashes for less power
modern miners do 200+ TH/s at under 20 watts per TH. 3.65 TH/s is literally museum piece territory now
1495 per unit for 3.65 TH lol. my current miner does 140 TH at 25W per TH. nostalgia hits different
14950 for a batch of 10 doing 36.5 TH total. you can get a single S21 doing 234 TH for less than that today
the 28nm vs 14nm debate was real back then. avalon played it safe and it cost them market share to bitmain long term
bitmain was already moving to 16nm by then right? the efficiency gap just kept widening
rig_veteran_ bitmain was already sampling 16nm when the Avalon6 shipped. Avalon knew they were a generation behind and priced accordingly at $1495. the problem was they never caught up
bitmain shipped the S9 in mid 2016 with 16nm. avalon was already a full generation behind by november 2015
bitmain shipped the S9 at 16nm just 7 months later. avalon probably knew the A3218 was already obsolete when it launched
blockc as exclusive distributor outside china. wonder how many of those units actually made it to customers profitably
blockc as distributor made sense geographically but avalon needed to compete on chips not logistics. bitmain won on silicon
nightshift_ BlockC made sense for distribution but Avalon needed a silicon partner not a logistics one. the real failure was not securing a foundry for 16nm when TSMN had capacity
Avalon charging $1495 per unit for 3.65 TH in 2015. that same money today gets you a used S19 doing 95 TH. hardware depreciation is brutal
Pieter D. the BlockC distribution deal was supposed to make Avalon competitive outside China. they shipped a few batches and vanished
people forget Avalon literally invented the ASIC miner in 2013. them playing safe on 28nm killed them but they earned their place in mining history
avalon sticking with 28nm while bitmain moved to 16nm was the beginning of the end. they played it safe and lost the entire market
Avalon sticking with 28nm when Bitmain was moving to 16nm was either genius or delusion. 3.65 TH per server sounds cute when a modern S21 does 200+ TH
die_hard_28nm 28nm was already mature and cheap to produce. avalon probably had better margins per unit than early S9 batches despite the efficiency gap
$14950 for a batch of 10 Avalon6 units at 36.5 TH total. that was roughly 1 BTC at the time. crazy to think people were mining with these at industrial scale
sticking with 28nm when you know Bitmain is moving to 16nm is corporate suicide. Avalon basically surrendered the market with this chip