South Korean multinational conglomerate Samsung has confirmed affiliation with upstart mining hardware manufacturer Halong Mining to supplying ASIC chips for the Dragonmint T1, as Nasdaq reported on April 12.

Before delving into crypto mining venture, the technology titan has been manufacturing “high-capacity memory chips” for handling computer graphics, which is also capable of crypto mining.

As it stands, Beijing-based Bitmain has so far been the predominant company in the industry of ASIC chip-development. With Samsung’s inked partnership with Halong, the ASIC industry now has a major competitor in the arena. At present, both companies are working with the world’s largest semiconductor foundry TSMC Ltd. Due in large part to ongoing developments in cryptocurrency, the Taiwanese giant’s value has since catapulted, as TSMC’s revenue has seen a significant quarterly increase averaging between $350 million to $400 million.

Since the beginning of 2018, reports have been circulating online suggesting Samsung’s collaborative partnership with a then “unnamed” Chinese mining company. It was not until April 10 that the companies’ affiliation was confirmed, when hardware management portal MyRig posted a photo on Twitter of a semiconductor material termed as a “wafer.” As MyRig explained in the post, the material, which was provided by Samsung, facilitates the “fabrication of integrated circuits.”

Touted as one of the most efficient miners in the world, reportedly outperforming Bitmain’s Antminer S9, Halong Mining’s DragonMint T1 is now available for purchase.

BtcDrak, who has been affiliated with Halong Mining since its initial launch, produced the DragonMint T1. As the developer said:

“We started a mining project with the aim to bring much needed competition to the market,” adding that “We want to ‘make SHA256 great again.”

As BtcDrak emphasized, the DragonMint T1 is touted to be the most “advanced miner to date.” Drawing comparison to AntMiner S9, the developer added that not only can the DragonMint T1 produce “16 tera hashes per second,” it is also “30 percent more energy efficient.”