Profits for the South Korea Samsung Electronics are up by nearly 60 percent due to increase in demand for cryptocurrency mining chips. The company said they expect the growth to continue in the second quarter of the year.

South Korean Samsung Electronics operating profits for the first quarter of 2018 surged by nearly 60 percent riding on its ASICs mining chips. The firm recorded consolidated earnings of 60.56 trillion won (~US$56 billion). And the operating profits grew 58% year-on-year to reach 15.64 trillion won (~$14.5 billion). The semiconductor division of the firm, which manufactures the ASICs mining chips, contributed three-quarters (73%) of the total operating profits.

The year-on-year sales also grew by about 20 percent.

Further, the company estimates that earnings will grow in the second quarter of the year. Thus, propelled by demand for HPC-based semiconductors and an increase in supply of new 10nm process products.

The company confirmed in January that its foundry business started manufacturing ASIC chips used for mining cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ether. Some of its customers include Halong Mining, which manufactures mining rig, Dragonmint T1 Miner. The miner uses Samsung’s 10nm T1558 mining chips.

According to the company, it is world’s most efficient miner and first-ever 10nm Bitcoin mining chip. It says that the The foundry business is expected to secure the second place in the industry with more than $10 billion in sales. Samsung launched the Samsung Advanced Foundry Ecosystem to improve collaboration between Samsung foundry, ecosystem partners, and customers.

Samsung competes with other Asics manufacturers including the Taiwan’s TSMC. It is the largest market share holder at nearly 56 percent. However, which supplies mining chips to Bitmain and Canaan and other manufacturers of mining rigs.

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