Samsung officially started high-volume production of chips on its SF3E (3nm-class, gate-all-around early) process technology about a year ago, but no fabless chip designer has ever confirmed that it uses this node for its products. But TechInsights recently discovered that MicroBT's Whatsminer M56S++ cryptominer has an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) that is indeed made with Samsung's SF3E process.
ASICs used to mine cryptocurrency tend to be small devices with a relatively low transistor count featuring similar repeating logic structures and a minimal number of SRAM bit cells. This generally makes such chips, and the Whatsminer M56S++ in particular, very well suited for serving as pipe cleaners for the most advanced manufacturing technologies due to their production simplicity. For Samsung Foundry, it makes perfect sense to use its SF3E for chips like cryptocurrency mining ASICs.
