What is an ASIC Cryptocurrency Miner?
Since it’s now impossible to profitably mine Bitcoin with a standard computer or laptop, you’ll need specialized hardware called ASICs.
Originally, Bitcoin’s creator intended for Bitcoin to be mined on CPUs (like your laptop or desktop computer). However, Bitcoin miners discovered they could get more hashing power from graphic cards. Graphic cards were then surpassed by ASICs (
Application Specific Integrated Circuits).
Here’s what an ASIC miner looks like up close: