Tether, the issuer of the world's largest stablecoin USDT, has placed a follow-on order with Canaan Inc. (Nasdaq: CAN) for custom high-density mining hash board modules, which will be deployed at a Tether-affiliated facility in South America using immersion cooling technology.
Modular Architecture and Proof-of-Concept
The agreement builds on a proof-of-concept R&D project completed in 2025, where Canaan and Tether collaborated with ACME Swisstech, a Swiss firm specializing in industrial mining system design. That earlier collaboration produced the modular architecture now moving into mass production. Under the 2025 framework, Canaan developed the hash board modules and supported Tether in building custom control boards and mining management systems. Together, these components form self-contained mining units with direct system-level integration.
The modular design separates the compute layer from the power supply and enclosure components. This split reduces infrastructure complexity, enables dynamic hash rate control, and supports optimized thermal management in immersion-cooled environments. Canaan CEO Nangeng Zhang noted that demand is shifting toward hardware built for direct integration into customer-designed systems. 'Leveraging our strong ASIC design expertise and flexible development platform, we are delivering customized hash board solutions that enable partners to optimize system architecture at the component level,' Zhang said. He added that the Avalon hash board enables on-demand deployment while cutting operational complexity, particularly in immersion cooling setups.
Executive Insights and Tripartite Collaboration
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino pointed to the limitations of traditional mining infrastructure. 'Most mining infrastructure is still built as sealed, fixed units, which makes it expensive to scale and inefficient to run,' Ardoino said. Tether's approach centers on modular compute that can be tuned, upgraded, and cooled independently, allowing the company to control cost and performance at scale. ACME Swisstech President Giv Zanganeh said the three-way collaboration enabled a holistic, industrial co-design approach aimed at large-scale operations, diverging from plug-and-play, retail-oriented products common in today's market.
The modules are built around Canaan's advanced ASIC chips and form part of the company's next-generation modular mining and compute hardware platform. Canaan positions the platform for flexible integration into partner-designed systems, with immersion-cooled deployments as a primary use case.
Expansion Potential and Industry Implications
The deal also includes an option for Tether to purchase additional module volume in future phases, which could support expanded deployments as operations scale. Canaan has been listed on the Nasdaq Global Market since its IPO in 2019, and its ASIC mining hardware history dates back to 2013 when the founding team shipped the first batch of machines under the Avalon brand. Tether, best known as the issuer of USDT, has extended its operations into bitcoin mining infrastructure in recent years, including open-source mining software development.
The Canaan-Tether collaboration reflects growing operator demand for component-level control over mining infrastructure, a shift away from standardized fixed hardware toward systems built around high-performance compute building blocks. As immersion cooling gains traction among large-scale miners, modular designs like this could lower deployment barriers and improve energy efficiency.