{"id":715,"date":"2026-02-25T15:14:52","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T14:14:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kriptoblog.hu\/a-bitmain-tortenete-az-antminer-s1-tol-az-s23-ig\/"},"modified":"2026-03-02T14:14:27","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T13:14:27","slug":"the-history-of-bitmain-from-antminer-s1-to-s23","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kriptoblog.hu\/en\/a-bitmain-tortenete-az-antminer-s1-tol-az-s23-ig\/","title":{"rendered":"The History of Bitmain: From the Antminer S1 to the S23"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>The History of Bitmain: From the S1 to the S23<\/h2>\n<p>If someone says \"Bitcoin mining\" to me, the first thing that comes to mind is Bitmain. Not by accident \u2014 this company practically single-handedly rewrote the rules of how new Bitcoin is created. But let's start from the beginning, because the story didn't start with Bitmain at all.<\/p>\n<h3>The Beginnings: From CPU to ASIC<\/h3>\n<p>I remember when I first read about Bitcoin mining around 2013. Back then, many people still tried mining with a <strong>CPU<\/strong> \u2014 yes, with a regular desktop computer's processor. Then came the <strong>GPUs<\/strong> (graphics cards), which could hash orders of magnitude more efficiently. Then appeared the <strong>FPGA<\/strong>s (Field-Programmable Gate Array), which were already programmed specifically for this purpose.<\/p>\n<p>But the real revolution came in 2013, when the first <strong>ASIC<\/strong> (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit) miners appeared. These chips were designed <em>exclusively<\/em> for one thing: computing SHA-256 hashes. Nothing else. But they do that brutally well.<\/p>\n<h3>The Birth of Bitmain (2013)<\/h3>\n<p>Two Chinese entrepreneurs, <strong>Jihan Wu<\/strong> and <strong>Micree Zhan<\/strong> founded Bitmain in 2013 in Beijing. Jihan Wu was the one who first translated Satoshi Nakamoto's Bitcoin whitepaper into Chinese \u2014 so he wasn't a newcomer to the topic. Micree Zhan was the genius of chip design.<\/p>\n<p>Their first model, the <strong>Antminer S1<\/strong>, arrived with 180 GH\/s performance, on 55nm chips. By today's standards, this is a joke \u2014 a modern top machine can do millions of times more. But back then? Back then this was <em>rocket science<\/em> .<\/p>\n<h3>The S1-S9 Era: The Foundation<\/h3>\n<p>Bitmain's development was impressive:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>S1 (2013)<\/strong> \u2014 180 GH\/s, 55nm chip, ~2000 J\/TH efficiency<\/li>\n<li><strong>S5 (2014)<\/strong> \u2014 switched to 28nm chip, significant efficiency improvement<\/li>\n<li><strong>S7 (2015)<\/strong> \u2014 further refined design<\/li>\n<li><strong>S9 (2016)<\/strong> \u2014 13.5 TH\/s, 16nm chip, 100 J\/TH<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Now, let's stop at the <strong>S9<\/strong>for a moment, because this machine is legendary. I'm serious, the S9 is the <strong>AK-47 of Bitcoin mining<\/strong>: simple, reliable, virtually indestructible. I remember when I bought my first S9 in 2017 \u2014 the packaging hadn't even dried before it was running in the living room, buzzing like a small airplane. My wife wasn't thrilled, but the daily revenue at BTC prices back then? That was thrilling.<\/p>\n<p>The S9 <em>for years<\/em> remained the market's best-selling miner. Even in 2020, tons of S9s were still working around the world. Many still use them today in regions with cheap electricity. This machine was what truly democratized Bitcoin mining \u2014 relatively speaking, of course, since you still had to put down a few thousand dollars for it.<\/p>\n<h3>The New Generation: S17, S19, S21<\/h3>\n<p>Bitmain didn't stop at the S9, even though many said you couldn't make something much better. They were wrong.<\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<th>Model<\/th>\n<th>Year<\/th>\n<th>Hashrate<\/th>\n<th>Chip<\/th>\n<th>Efficiency (J\/TH)<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>S17<\/td>\n<td>2019<\/td>\n<td>53 TH\/s<\/td>\n<td>7nm<\/td>\n<td>40<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>S19<\/td>\n<td>2020<\/td>\n<td>95 TH\/s<\/td>\n<td>7nm<\/td>\n<td>34.5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>S19 Pro<\/td>\n<td>2020<\/td>\n<td>110 TH\/s<\/td>\n<td>7nm<\/td>\n<td>29.5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>S19 XP<\/td>\n<td>2022<\/td>\n<td>140 TH\/s<\/td>\n<td>5nm<\/td>\n<td>21.5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>S21<\/td>\n<td>2024<\/td>\n<td>200 TH\/s<\/td>\n<td>5nm<\/td>\n<td>17.5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>S21 Pro<\/td>\n<td>2024<\/td>\n<td>234 TH\/s<\/td>\n<td>5nm<\/td>\n<td>15<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>S21 XP<\/td>\n<td>2025<\/td>\n<td>270 TH\/s<\/td>\n<td>5nm<\/td>\n<td>13.5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>S21 XP Immersion<\/td>\n<td>2025<\/td>\n<td>300 TH\/s<\/td>\n<td>5nm<\/td>\n<td>13<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<p>The <strong>S19 series<\/strong> was what made Bitmain truly competitive with 7nm chips. The S19 Pro was the best value miner on the market for a long time. In my personal experience, the S19 family is also excellent in terms of reliability \u2014 mine ran for three years without a break.<\/p>\n<p>The <strong>S21 series<\/strong> brought the next big leap in 2024. The 200 TH\/s base model produces <em>nearly 15 times<\/em> the hashrate compared to the S9, while being 5.7 times more energy efficient. This is astonishing progress within a single decade.<\/p>\n<h3>The Future: S23 and Beyond<\/h3>\n<p>In 2026, the news is already about the <strong>S23e<\/strong> model: ~330 TH\/s hashrate, ~10.6 J\/TH efficiency. This means we're slowly approaching the limits set by physics \u2014 but I'll write about that in detail in another article.<\/p>\n<p>I believe the secret to Bitmain's success was that they were always one step ahead of the competition in chip design. Their partnership with TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor) was crucial \u2014 they always used the most cutting-edge available manufacturing technology.<\/p>\n<h3>The Dark Side<\/h3>\n<p>Of course, not everything is sunshine and rainbows. Bitmain has faced a lot of criticism over the years:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A <strong>BCH fork<\/strong> support in 2017 divided the community<\/li>\n<li>The <strong>Antbleed<\/strong> scandal (built-in backdoor in the firmware)<\/li>\n<li>Power struggle between Jihan Wu and Micree Zhan for control of the company<\/li>\n<li>A <strong>monopolistic<\/strong> market position, which many believe threatens Bitcoin's decentralization<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>So, what do you think? Is Bitmain a blessing or a curse for the Bitcoin ecosystem? I say: <em>both<\/em>. They accelerated technological progress, but in the process created a dangerous level of centralization. This dilemma won't go away anytime soon.<\/p>\n<h3>Sources<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.asicminervalue.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ASIC Miner Value \u2014 Miner comparison database<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/d-central.tech\/evolution-of-the-bitmain-antminer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">D-Central Tech \u2014 Bitmain Antminer evolution<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/compassmining.io\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Compass Mining \u2014 Mining industry news<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/bt-miners.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">BT-Miners \u2014 ASIC miner specifications<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>\u26a0\ufe0f Legal disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Cryptocurrency mining involves significant risks. Before any investment decision, do your own research (DYOR) and consult a financial expert if needed. The data in this article is valid at the time of publication and may change at any time.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Bitmain t\u00f6rt\u00e9nete: az S1-t\u0151l az S23-ig Ha valaki azt mondja nekem, hogy &#8222;Bitcoin b\u00e1ny\u00e1szat&#8221;, az els\u0151 dolog ami eszembe jut, az a Bitmain. Nem v\u00e9letlen\u00fcl \u2014 ez a c\u00e9g gyakorlatilag egyed\u00fcl \u00edrta \u00e1t a szab\u00e1lyokat arr\u00f3l, hogyan keletkezik \u00faj Bitcoin. De kezdj\u00fck az elej\u00e9r\u0151l, mert a t\u00f6rt\u00e9net messze nem a Bitmainnal indult. A kezdetek: [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":714,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[22,123,21,4,54,116,120,118,119,141,126,156,113,56,136],"class_list":["post-715","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-banyaszat","tag-antminer","tag-asic","tag-banyaszat","tag-bitcoin","tag-bitmain","tag-cpu","tag-fpga","tag-gpu","tag-hashrate","tag-jovokep","tag-kina","tag-piac","tag-satoshi-nakamoto","tag-sha256","tag-szabalyozas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kriptoblog.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/715","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kriptoblog.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kriptoblog.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kriptoblog.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kriptoblog.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=715"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kriptoblog.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/715\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1079,"href":"https:\/\/kriptoblog.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/715\/revisions\/1079"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kriptoblog.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kriptoblog.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kriptoblog.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kriptoblog.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}