On June 17, 2019, Chinese mining hardware giant Bitmain Technologies announced the launch of a low-cost miner—the Antminer S9 Special Edition (SE). The device delivers 16 terahash per second (16TH/s) and is priced at just $350 per unit, celebrating the company's most popular legacy product, the original Antminer S9.
Specifications: 16TH/s Hashrate, 80J/TH Efficiency
The new S9 SE is designed for both solo miners and large-scale operations. It processes the SHA-256 algorithm (supporting BTC and BCH) at 16TH/s with a power consumption of 1280W, resulting in a power efficiency of 80 joules per terahash (J/TH). Bitmain stated: “The legacy that forever left its mark in the mining industry — Introducing a Special Edition miner, the Antminer S9 SE which continues that very same legacy.” To prevent hoarding, orders are limited to 10 units per customer. The first batch is expected to ship between July 21-31 on a first-paid-first-ship basis. However, U.S. residents face additional costs due to ongoing trade war tariffs: a 2.6% tax and a 25% import duty. The miner weighs approximately 4.5kg and produces around 76 decibels of noise, slightly louder than standard units. It features three hash boards with roughly 180 Bitmain-designed chips, though the specific semiconductor process is not disclosed.
Second Market and Profitability of Older Miners
The launch of the low-cost S9 SE follows a series of next-generation miners released by Bitmain in recent months, including the Antminer S17 Pro (53TH/s), S17 (56TH/s), T17 (40TH/s), S15 (28TH/s), T15 (23TH/s), and S11 (20.5TH/s). The S9 SE is most comparable to the Antminer S9 Hydro (18TH/s) but lacks water cooling. CoinShares’ latest mining report highlights that older S9 units (11.5TH/s) from 2016 still yield a daily profit of $0.75 at $0.13 per kWh and current Bitcoin prices. These older rigs are being traded on the secondary market for as low as 700–800 yuan (about $150). Even older Antminer S7 units could be profitable again. The report states: “With Bitcoin prices where they are at the time of writing it is assumed some people have turned at least a few of these units [S7s] back on.” Mining competition has intensified, with Bitcoin’s total hashrate reaching 54 EH/s and BCH at 2.5 EH/s. The S9 SE release shows Bitmain targeting buyers looking for affordable or older machines. With BCH above $400 and BTC beyond $9,000, any miner with a hashrate above 11TH/s can profit at $0.13/kWh. In regions with ultra-low electricity costs, such as Sichuan, China ($0.04–0.01/kWh) and Iran ($0.006/kWh), even lower-hashrate models become profitable.
This low-cost strategy from Bitmain could reshape the mining hardware landscape. What are your thoughts on the new Antminer S9 SE? Share your comments below.