In April 2018, the long-awaited Dragonmint T1 SHA-256 miner from Halong Mining finally began shipping to customers. The company had promised the most efficient mining hardware on the market, with some supporters claiming a 30% efficiency advantage over Bitmain's Antminer S9. However, early reviews paint a more modest picture.
Samsung 10nm Chip Speculation
On April 10, mining distributor Myrig tweeted that the Dragonmint T1 uses Samsung's 10nm ASIC chips. Samsung had announced in January 2018 that it was producing ASICs for an “unknown Chinese mining hardware manufacturer.” Myrig's owner stated, “Yes Samsung, and Yes 10nm — I'm sure someone had seen some news in the past about it from big foundry about bitcoin and cryptos.” Halong Mining's official website makes no mention of 10nm technology, and all manufactured batches are currently sold out and marked “unavailable.”
Cobra's Apology
Bitcoin.org co-owner Cobra, who had previously labeled Halong Mining a “scam,” apologized on April 13 via Twitter: “I was completely wrong about Halong Mining. Even though they're secretive and mysterious company and raised some major red flags, it seems they've delivered functional hardware as promised. I'm extremely sorry to them for my attacks and I await my shipment of crow.” This came after users began posting unboxing photos of their Dragonmint T1 units.
Side-by-Side Comparison: Dragonmint T1 vs Antminer S9
Popular miner YouTuber “Miner Digi” published a video demonstration on April 11. After connecting to a Myrig 1600W PSU, the Dragonmint T1 reached close to 16 TH/s, consistently clocking between 15.5 and 15.9 TH/s while mining on Slush Pool. Another detailed review from April 4 showed the T1 “ramped up to 14.98 to 15.97 TH/s” and “pulled roughly 1480 to 1497 watts at the wall.” By contrast, the Antminer S9 typically hashes at 13.2–14 TH/s, drawing about 1375 watts at 14 TH/s. The S9 costs $1,288 per unit, while the first batch of T1 miners sold for $1,595 each (minimum five per order, later single purchases allowed but quickly sold out). The T1 is 1.5–2.5 TH/s faster than the S9 but costs over $300 more and consumes more power. As the reviewer noted, the T1's efficiency is “definitely a touch higher compared to the S9, but not by a whole lot.” The claimed 30% efficiency improvement—originally stated by Bitcoin Core developer and Halong Mining associate 'Btcdrak'—has not materialized.
Conclusion: S9 Remains Competitive
While the Dragonmint T1 does achieve slightly higher hash rates, its higher price, greater power draw, and minimal efficiency gains mean the Antminer S9 is far from obsolete. The T1 uses ASIC Boost (version rolling) and allegedly Samsung 10nm chips, but real-world performance does not yet justify the premium. All current Halong batches are sold out, and future availability remains uncertain. For miners seeking the best cost-efficiency ratio, the S9 remains a solid choice.