Block, Inc. has unveiled Proto Rig, a modular and repairable bitcoin miner, alongside Proto Fleet, a free open source fleet management platform. The launch represents a new approach to mining infrastructure, aiming to improve efficiency, reduce downtime, and broaden access to bitcoin mining.
These releases follow Block’s previous sale of mining chips to Core Scientific. Proto Rigs are already deployed at Core Scientific’s Dalton, Georgia facility, forming part of its operational mining fleet.
Traditional mining machines are often single-use, prone to failure, costly to repair, and difficult to upgrade. Proto Rig addresses these issues with a design intended to last up to 10 years. Its modularity allows operators to replace individual hashboards instead of entire units, lowering upgrade costs by 15–20% per cycle. Tool-free maintenance reduces repair time from days to seconds, cutting downtime significantly.
“Mining hardware hasn’t really changed in years,” said Thomas Templeton, Hardware Lead at Block. “Machines break often, are hard to repair, expensive and time-consuming to upgrade, and don’t make the most efficient use of power or space. With Rig, we set out to change all of that–and contribute to hardware decentralization in the process.”
Proto Rig also delivers 1.5 times the power density per rack foot compared with legacy systems and is compatible with both modern and existing infrastructure, allowing operators to integrate the system without expensive retrofits.
On the software side, Proto Fleet combines power scaling, monitoring, diagnostics, and maintenance tools into a single platform. By offering this software for free, Block aims to simplify operations for miners of all sizes and reduce reliance on fragmented proprietary tools.
“Mining hasn’t really caught up with advances in software more broadly,” Templeton added. “We saw an opportunity to make mining software something modern that improves operational efficiency instead of unnecessarily complicating things.”
With modular hardware and open source software working together, Block seeks to make bitcoin mining more resilient, efficient, and accessible. These launches complement the company’s broader bitcoin initiatives, including Square, Cash App, Bitkey, and Spiral, reinforcing its commitment to the ecosystem.
