Some products launch with a bang. The Antminer X9 left with a refund notification.
Last December, Bitmain put a machine on sale that was supposed to be impossible: a dedicated miner for Monero (XMR), the coin that has spent years making sure nothing like it could exist. Five months later it was gone, refunded before a single unit shipped. Now everyone in Monero mining is asking the same thing: is it actually dead, or just waiting backstage?
The short version
- Buyers were told in mid-May 2026 that Bitmain had discontinued the X9. No public Bitmain press release followed.
- On-chain data shows no secret fleet: Monero's hashrate has not beaten its January high.
- The likeliest story: Bitmain waits for Monero's next algorithm (RandomX v2) to go live, then builds for it.
- Want an ASIC-friendly privacy coin today? Zcash is the live option. Numbers below.
The X9 in 30 seconds
Bitmain opened orders on 26 December 2025, with shipping planned for July 2026. The X9 ran Monero's RandomX algorithm on custom RISC-V cores, at roughly 2.47 J/KH. Industry estimates put one unit at about the output of 100 to 125 desktop computers.
Against Bitmain's own older Monero machine, the Antminer X5, the jump was just as big: one X9 did the work of almost five X5s.
Why Monero fights mining machines
Bitcoin welcomes ASICs, chips built to do one job extremely fast. Monero does the opposite, and it has a track record. In spring 2018, after the first Monero ASICs appeared, the network changed its algorithm and locked them out. On 30 November 2019 it switched to RandomX, designed to run best on the processor in your laptop.
The reason is decentralization. Monero's community sees concentrated mining power as a direct threat to a privacy coin, and in August 2025 that fear became real when the Qubic project claimed a majority of Monero's hashrate.
So the reaction to the X9 was immediate. Within four days, on 30 December 2025, it was raised on Monero's own GitHub, and talk of changing the algorithm again followed fast.
From launch to refund
- 26 Dec 2025Bitmain opens X9 orders, July 2026 shipping.Confirmed
- 30 Dec 2025The X9 is raised as an issue on Monero's GitHub.Confirmed
- Mid-Jan 2026Monero hashrate hits its 2026 high, about 6.8 GH/s (weekly average).On-chain data
- 30 Mar 2026Monero announces the RandomX v2.0 release.Confirmed
- Mid-May 2026Resellers tell pre-order buyers Bitmain discontinued the X9. Refunds land within hours. Reported reason: “technical adjustments and a new strategy.”Reported
- 2 Oct 2026No public Bitmain press release on the cancellation, and no replacement announced.Still silent
Notice what is missing: a formal Bitmain announcement. The cancellation reached buyers through reseller messages and refunds. That is strong evidence the X9 isn't shipping, but it means every quote about Bitmain's reasons is reported, not on the record.
Three theories, graded honestly
“It's dead forever.”
Bitmain built custom RandomX chips and already sells the older X5. Reports also mention a replacement model. Companies leaving a market don't usually hint at what's next.
“Bitmain is mining with them in secret.”
A hidden fleet of 1 MH/s machines would push Monero's hashrate to new highs. It peaked around 6.8 GH/s in January and sits near 6.3 GH/s today.
“It's coming back when Monero's rules settle.”
RandomX v2 is released as software but not live on the main network. Building for the final algorithm is simply the safer move.
The on-chain data is what settles the secret-mining theory. Here is Monero's weekly hashrate, measured straight from block difficulty:
As for timing, Monero's test network is getting RandomX v2 support alongside the big FCMP++ privacy upgrade, with a test-network hard fork scheduled for 5 October 2026. No live-network date has been confirmed. That is our read of the situation, not a Bitmain roadmap, and we'll update this article if Bitmain says otherwise.
The day RandomX v2 gets a live-network date is the day a next-generation Monero miner starts to make sense.
What it means for you
If you pre-ordered an X9
Ask your seller for a written status update: refund, credit transfer, or a confirmed ship date. Buyers refunded in May reported the money arriving quickly.
If you run an Antminer X5
Without a wave of X9s, competition on Monero didn't jump the way many X5 owners feared. The watch-item is RandomX v2: when it goes live, check how your hardware and firmware handle it before assuming business as usual.
If you want a privacy coin without the algorithm war
The quiet lesson of the X9 saga is that on Monero, the rules can change under your machine. If you like the idea of mining a privacy coin but would rather not fight the network to do it, there is a live alternative.
Plan B for privacy-coin fans: Zcash
Zcash (ZEC) is a privacy coin like Monero, with one big difference for miners: its Equihash algorithm has been mined by dedicated ASICs for years, and the network works with them rather than against them. Real machines, shipping today, and no forks aimed at your hardware.
2026 has been a big year for it. ZEC traded around $1,379 on 2 October after touching about $1,693 on 26 September, and miners noticed. Zcash's network hashrate has grown roughly 4x in a year.
How Zcash pays miners
We read this straight off a live Zcash block on 2 October 2026. Each block creates 1.5625 ZEC. Miners receive 80% (1.25 ZEC plus fees), 8% goes to Zcash Community Grants and 12% is held in a protocol lockbox. At about 1,152 blocks a day, that is roughly 1,440 ZEC per day, shared by every miner on the network.
One upgrade to know about: NU7, tentatively set for 5 November 2026, cuts block time from 75 seconds to 25, keeps the halving schedule, and sets aside part of transaction fees to support mining rewards from 2031. The final activation height is due after testnet.
What a Zcash miner earns today
Here is the honest snapshot for the Antminer Z15 line at today's ZEC price and network size, with power at 4.8 cents per kWh, the OneMiners premium hosting rate in Nigeria.
The honest risk: dilution
Zcash revenue is a fixed daily pie. When the network grows, every machine's slice shrinks, and it has grown fast. The clearest way to see the risk is how big one machine is against its whole network:
That chart explains the X9 drama in one picture: a single X9 would have been a big fish in a small pond, which is exactly what made Monero nervous. Zcash sits in the middle, and Bitcoin is the deepest pond of all. A sensible plan for most people is one Zcash machine for upside, paired with Bitcoin hashrate for stability.
Longer term, Zcash developers are working on Crosslink, a proposed proof-of-stake finality layer that keeps proof-of-work mining. As of August 2026 it has no ZIP number and no activation date, so it is one to watch, not one to panic about.
Mine Zcash or Bitcoin, without the hardware hassle
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Zcash minersBitcoin minersHosting locationsFinal thoughts
The Antminer X9 is a strange kind of famous: the most-discussed Monero miner of 2026, and nobody outside Bitmain has seen one mine a single block. The confirmed part of the story is short. Bitmain announced it, the Monero community pushed back, and buyers got their money back. Everything after that is a waiting game, and the clock that matters belongs to Monero's developers.
Our verdict: the X9 as announced is finished. A Bitmain Monero miner built for whatever algorithm Monero lands on is a real possibility, not a promise. We'll be watching Monero's fork schedule. In the meantime, privacy-coin fans have a live, ASIC-friendly option in Zcash, and Bitcoin is still the deepest network of all.
FAQ
Did Bitmain officially cancel the Antminer X9?
Buyers were told by resellers in mid-May 2026 that Bitmain had discontinued it, and refunds were issued. As of 2 October 2026 we could not find a public Bitmain press release about it.
Why was the Antminer X9 cancelled?
The most widely reported reason is the Monero community's opposition to ASICs and the risk of an algorithm change that would cripple the machines. Bitmain's reported explanation was “technical adjustments and a new strategy.”
Is Bitmain mining Monero with X9s in secret?
There is no evidence for it. Monero's network hashrate has stayed below its January 2026 peak, which is not what a large hidden fleet would produce.
Will Bitmain release a new Monero miner?
Reports from the cancellation mention a replacement model, but no specs, price or date have been announced.
What is RandomX v2?
An updated version of Monero's mining algorithm. It has been released as software but, as far as we can confirm, is not yet active on Monero's live network.
Is the Antminer X5 still usable?
Yes. It runs on today's RandomX. Check compatibility once RandomX v2 gets a live-network date.
Is Zcash mining profitable in 2026?
At ZEC around $1,379 and power at 4.8 cents per kWh, an Antminer Z15 PRO 860 KSol/s makes about $46 a day after power on 2 October 2026. Price and network growth change that daily, so treat it as a snapshot.
Will Zcash fork out ASICs like Monero?
Zcash's network works with ASICs rather than against them. Its next upgrade, NU7, changes block timing and fee handling, not the mining algorithm.
Does Bitcoin have this risk?
Bitcoin's SHA-256 algorithm has not changed since 2009, and its network is designed around ASIC mining, so this kind of algorithm-change risk does not apply the same way.
- Bitmain X9 launch details and specifications (orders opened 26 Dec 2025)
- monero-project/monero GitHub, issue #10270 (30 Dec 2025)
- Monero official X account, RandomX v2.0 release post (30 Mar 2026)
- monero.forum, “Apparently Bitmain has discontinued the X9” (from 16 May 2026)
- PC Praha, X9 cancellation report (15 May 2026)
- TokenPost, Monero stressnet v3.0 and test-network fork schedule (late Sep 2026)
- Monero and Zcash hashrate and block rewards: OneMiners analysis of on-chain data (2 Oct 2026)
- CoinGecko, ZEC and XMR prices (2 Oct 2026)
- CoinDesk, Zcash NU7 upgrade targeting November (18 Sep 2026)
- BlockOps Mining, Zcash Crosslink status (Aug 2026)
- OneMiners hosting rate card and Antminer Z15 product specifications
This article is for information only and is not financial or investment advice. Details reported second-hand are labelled as such. Mining involves risk, including hardware, network and price risk.
