On this page6 sections
An ASIC is application specific by definition: the chip is built to compute one function extremely fast and can do nothing else. A SHA-256 machine mines Bitcoin and the coins that share its algorithm, and that is the whole of its universe. Buy a machine for another algorithm and you are buying into a different market with different rules.
Scrypt, for Litecoin and Dogecoin
Scrypt machines mine Litecoin, and because Litecoin and Dogecoin are merge mined, the same work earns both at once. That merge mining is the interesting part: one machine, two coins, one electricity bill. It has kept Scrypt hardware viable through periods when the Litecoin price alone would not have justified it.
The machines are typically lower power than flagship Bitcoin miners and the market for them is thinner in both directions, which means less choice when buying and fewer buyers when selling.
Equihash, for Zcash
Equihash machines address a smaller set of coins with correspondingly smaller networks. Small networks cut both ways: your share of the total hashrate can be meaningful with modest hardware, and a single large buyer entering or leaving moves difficulty far more than it would on Bitcoin. Revenue is more volatile, and the machines are more specialised, so resale depends on a narrow pool of buyers.
RandomX, and why there is no ASIC for it
RandomX, used by Monero, is deliberately designed to run well on ordinary processors and badly on specialised hardware. That is a policy choice by that project, not an oversight. Machines sold for it are effectively dense arrangements of general purpose compute rather than true ASICs, and they should be evaluated as such: their advantage over a rack of servers is packaging and efficiency, not a hundredfold speed difference.
How the economics differ
- Liquidity. Bitcoin mining revenue converts to cash instantly at any size. Smaller coins do not, and a fleet earning coins you cannot sell without moving the price is earning less than the spreadsheet says.
- Difficulty swings. On a small network, one operator switching on can visibly cut your revenue. Model the downside harder than you would for Bitcoin.
- Resale. Fewer buyers, thinner market, wider spreads. Plan to run the machine to the end of its life rather than assuming you can rotate it, which changes the maths in payback.
- Algorithm risk. A project can change its algorithm, and some have, precisely to remove ASICs from their network. That risk does not exist for Bitcoin and is real for several smaller coins.
- Parts and service. Smaller production runs mean thinner spares. Weight the spares question in maintenance and spares more heavily.
Where they genuinely make sense
Three cases come up repeatedly. Diversification, where an operator wants a portion of revenue not correlated to a single coin. Conviction, where someone holds a view on a specific project and wants exposure through hardware rather than through the market. And fit, where a machine's power draw, voltage or noise profile suits a site that cannot take a flagship Bitcoin miner.
What does not work is buying an alternative algorithm machine because a profitability calculator shows a higher daily figure today. Those figures are computed at current difficulty and current price on a small network, and both move against a new entrant faster than they would on Bitcoin.
Reading the spec sheet
The units differ by algorithm. SHA-256 machines are rated in terahashes per second, Scrypt machines in gigahashes, Equihash in kilosolutions. Efficiency is still the number that matters, but you can only compare it within an algorithm, never across. Everything else on the sheet reads the same way, as covered in the spec sheet fields that decide fit.
Run this against your own numbers
Tell us your power situation, your site and the scale you are aiming at. We come back with a hardware shortlist and a firm quote.