Engineer PizzAndy presents a prototype that fuses 3D printing and cryptocurrency mining. His system replaces the traditional heated bed with Bitcoin ASIC chips, which generate the necessary heat for printing while performing computational work. This concept, called Proof of Print, is designed for intensive use environments like print farms, where it could offset part of the electricity cost.
Technology and development of the modular prototype 🔧
The mechanical base is an open-source Voron design. Under the print surface are housed four BM1362 chips, which dynamically adjust their speed to maintain the target temperature for materials like PCTG (75-80°C), without fans. During printing, the assembly reaches about 500 GH/s. Future development aims for a modular design with BZM2 chips, which would significantly increase mining capacity.
Your printer no longer heats plastic, it heats wallets 💰
It's every printer's dream: for the machine to stop being an expense and become an employee that pays the electricity bill. While your motor arm moves, the chips under the bed work their second shift extracting digital value. That said, if the print detaches, at least the consolation will be that the mining continued. A new meaning for financially acceptable layer error.