In a clear example of how code and hardware exist in a relationship that can be understood as a feedback loop, two Bitcoin-specific hardware products have been announced in the past days.

The Bitcoin protocol has given birth now to a new kind of chip, especifically designed to maximise the speed of Bitcoin cryptographic calculations while minimising electricity consumption. The first generation of Bitcoin ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) mining hardware has been announced by a company called Butterfly Labs. The processing power of ASIC hardware is an order of magnitude beyond the hardware currently used by miners, so it’s inception later this year promises to completely transform the field. The economic implications are uncertain, beyond the confirmation of a trend towards the profesionalisation, and the further rising barrier of entry to Bitcoin Mining.

The complexity of the development of Bitcoin ASIC processors should not be overlooked. The development of a new category in computer hardware is a very significant development in itself, a sign of the underestimated vitality inherent in the Bitcoin protocol.

At the other end of the Bitcoin life-chain (the end user) hardware consistent with the protocol is solidifying too. The Bitcoin Card is the first physical, off-line, Bitcoin wallet. The device promises a huge step forward in simple everyday usability for Bitcoin. The solar-powered Bitcoin Card has the size and thickness of a credit card, and yet it offers the user the ability to anonymously perform Bitcoin transactions with other nearby users or points of sale “via an ad-hoc mesh network that doesn’t require internet”.

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