This 3D Printer Mines Bitcoin While It Prints!

The idea may seem completely absurd at first glance, but behind this unexpected mix of manufacturing and cryptocurrency lies some pretty clever technical logic.

The project, called Proof of Print, is based on a simple principle: use the heat generated by the mining chips to power the printer’s heated bed. In other words, instead of wasting the thermal energy produced by ASICs, these specialized chips used to mine Bitcoin, the machine recycles it directly to maintain the correct printing temperature.

Mining Bitcoin to heat the printer

In a typical 3D printer, the platen must be heated so that the molten plastic adheres properly and to avoid warping during printing. This heat is generally produced by a dedicated electrical resistance.

In this prototype, this function is provided by mining ASICs. The chips produce heat by calculating the hashes needed for the Bitcoin network, and this heat is harvested to keep the platen around 75 to 80°C, a common temperature for printing some filaments.

The system even automatically adjusts the power of the chips, if the board cools, the ASICs speed up their computing rate to produce more heat, and if the temperature is reached, they slow down. The machine therefore does not mine at its maximum capacity, but rather according to the thermal needs of the printer.

A printer inspired by the open source world

The prototype is based on an open source Voron-type printer base, widely used in maker communities. The engineer behind the project, Andy “PizzAndy” Prokopyk, significantly modified the structure, notably on the vertical axis and on the board itself, which now serves as a heat sink for the chips.

Inside the machine, there are four BM1362 ASIC chips taken from a small Bitcoin miner. In this configuration, the printer can reach around 500 GH/s, a modest calculation rate in the world of mining, but sufficient to illustrate the concept. In practice, the power varies constantly, when the plate heats up, the chips spin faster, then slow down once the temperature stabilizes.

An idea designed for print farms

The project is not really aimed at individuals who print a few parts on the weekend. The idea is more aimed at 3D printing farms, these workshops where dozens of machines run 24 hours a day to produce objects. In this context, each machine already consumes electricity to heat its plate. If this energy can also generate a little Bitcoin, mining becomes slightly more profitable. This is exactly the logic behind this prototype, transforming an inevitable energy expenditure into a source of income, even modest.

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For the moment, all this remains at the prototype stage, because several challenges will have to be overcome before considering a commercial version: reliability, software integration, cost of components and even maintenance. Without forgetting the profitability of Bitcoin mining, which strongly depends on the Price of the cryptocurrency and the difficulty of the network.

But the idea illustrates an interesting trend in the world of hardware, reusing the heat generated by computer calculations. We are already seeing projects for domestic radiators, water heaters or even district heating systems powered by servers. And if tomorrow 3D printers also started mining cryptos while they work, it would ultimately be just one more step in this logic of energy optimization.