BitMain Announces Antminer S2 Upgrade Kit

Yoshi Goto, presenting for Bitmain at the conference, showed working prototypes of the kit to media representatives. The upgrade uses identical BM1384 chipsets to the Antminer S5, bumping S2 mining output from 1 terahash per second to 1.155 terahashes per second while maintaining the same 590-watt power consumption profile. Bitmain promised March 2015 availability, though Goto withheld an exact ship date pending final production validation.

The upgrade strategy mimicked Bitmain's earlier approach with S1 owners during the S3 launch. That prior kit included two hash boards, two custom heat sinks, adapter and control board components, cooling hardware, and installation tools—a framework the S2 kit follows identically. Miners upgrading faced one practical constraint: power supplies rated for S2 consumption (around 550 watts) would need replacement to handle the S5's 590-watt draw without creating bottlenecks in facility operations.

Bitmain's hardware deployment model differed markedly from competitors. While other ASIC manufacturers accepted pre-orders and Bitcoin payments months before validating production timelines, Bitmain tested equipment in its own mining operations first. This approach protected miners from the vaporware cycles that had plagued the industry since 2013, when numerous manufacturers announced products that never materialized or arrived years late.

The upgrade decision reflected an industry transition. Mining operations running S2 hardware from 2014 faced economic pressure as difficulty climbed and newer, more efficient designs arrived. S2 owners could either retire aging equipment or invest in upgrade components that restored competitive hashrate without complete hardware replacement. For operations with marginal profitability, the upgrade path offered a cheaper alternative to new equipment purchases, at least temporarily.