Bitcoin and cryptocurrency mining has become a growing industry, and mining operations continue to compete by making faster chips and purchasing large quantities of land to host data facilities all over the world. Data recorded from around the globe shows the mining economy is booming and the venture has become very profitable for many mining operations and chip manufacturers. For instance, this week it was revealed by regional reports that the Chinese firm, Bitmain Technologies, raked in 14.3 billion yuan ($2.3billion USD) in revenue last year from sales.

Also read: Dead again? In Reality Bitcoin Is Up 729% Since Last February

Mining Proves to Be One of Cryptocurrency's Most Profitable Sectors

Mining cryptocurrencies like bitcoin has become very profitable for those who know how to obtain cheap electricity and operate a sound business. The ecosystem has spread as Graphics processing unit (GPU), and Application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) chip manufacturers are making lots of money from the mining industry.

AMD, Nvidia, TSMC public shares on October 23, 2017

Public shares from companies like AMD, the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), and many others have spiked considerably this past year. It turns out, that still to this day, churning out complicated math problems to find blocks is one of the hottest sectors in the cryptocurrency space, and this phenomenon will likely continue. One example is the 16-nanometer mining chip that has been an industry standard for quite some time, but now 12nm, 10nm, and 7nm chips are coming in the near future.   

According to reports, digital currency mining represents a good slice of TSMC's revenue and the "Chip Boom" bolstered TSMC's Q4 profits in 2017.

China's Two Dominant Mining Manufacturing Businesses

One firm, Bitmain Technologies, has been a top mining chip manufacturer for a very long time delivering mass-produced ASIC rigs featuring 28nm, 16nm semiconductors. A recent disclosure from China's Digitimes details that Bitmain had reportedly ordered 100,000 12nm chips from TSMC and the order was marked "urgent." Alongside the order, according to the publications 8BTC and Applancer, the Chinese mining firm Bitmain Technologies revenue in 2017 was 14.3 billion yuan ($2.3billion USD). The report says that "Bitmain has become China's second largest IC design company, ranked only second to Hisilicon." With many companies entering the industry, Bitmain is relentlessly holding its top position in the cryptocurrency mining economy.