FutureBit began selling its Apollo III, a Bitcoin (BTC) miner that also runs a full node, at four Micro Center stores on Friday, Nov. 13. The launch gives customers a chance to buy the Brooklyn company’s mining hardware in a physical retail store for the first time.
The locations are in Brooklyn, Miami, Tustin, California, and Austin, Texas. Customers can reserve a unit online for pickup. The Austin store opened the same day, becoming Micro Center’s 31st U.S. location and its third in Texas.
Micro Center has not disclosed what it will charge for the Apollo III. The Full Node model is priced at $1,099.99 without a storage drive, $1,299.99 with a one-terabyte SSD and $1,399.99 with two terabytes of SSD storage. The miner-only Standard model starts at $899.99 and does not include the full-node feature.
The Full Node’s top setting, Turbo mode, is rated at up to 18 terahashes per second and roughly 325 watts. Eco mode is listed at 12 terahashes per second and 150 watts, while Super Eco mode is listed at about eight terahashes per second and 80 watts. The wattage readings are measured at the board and may vary by 10%.
The machine can connect to a standard Bitcoin mining pool and includes a solo-mining pool. An SSD is required to use its full-node and solo-mining features, so those functions are unavailable in the $1,099.99 configuration unless a drive is added. The Full Node combines the miner and node in one compact device.
FutureBit has made consumer mining hardware since 2015. The company has presented home mining as a way for people to operate both mining equipment and a Bitcoin node at home. The Apollo III debuted in February.
John Kim
John Kim reports on the digital-asset business for TokenPost. Send corrections or tips to [email protected].
