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FutureBit Apollo II is More than Just a Bitcoin ASIC Miner for Home Users

27, Nov 2023

The new FutureBit Apollo II has been officially announced and it is going to be available in three different versions with shipping starting in Q1 next year (2024) with preorders expected to be available from December 8th. We are not sure how to talk about this device as it is more than just a Bitcoin miner designed and made in the USA and targeted for home users… although the Apollo II Standard ($799 USD) is essentially a cool looking USB-based Bitcoin ASIC miner capable of delivering up to 10 TH/s hashrate with about 400 Watts of power usage and that device can be plugged in to an older Apollo node or a newer Apollo II Full Node or a computer or a RPi thus adding new or expanding existing hashing power. The new Apollo II Full Node ($1099 USD) as the name implies includes a Full Bitcoin Node and the device itself is a Miner + Full Node + Linux Desktop System all in one with the mining part essentially the same as the standalone device. With the Full Node you also get a built-in modern ARM based controller with 4GB of RAM and up to a 2TB of SSD storage that has a pre-installed dedicated Apollo OS 1.0, that allows for built in zero config solo mining directly to your node. And the third version is the FutureBit Apollo II Founders Edition ($1999 USD) that has all of the Full Node features, but with additional extras such as cooler looking orange case with transparent top, and you would be able to get it shipped first with a limited number of units available.

We remember first hearing about FutureBit back in 2016 on Bitcointalk where jstefanop announced that he is working on a USB-based Scrypt ASIC miner and soon after that we got our hands on the FutureBit MoonLander USB Scrypt ASIC Miner to test it. We really liked the design and how the device worked back then later on came the improved FutureBit Moonlander 2, after that the Apollo LTC miner and then the upgrade kit to bring it up to a Full Node and the Apollo BTC miner and Full Node, and now comes the next evolution with improved hashrate and power efficiency as well as features. The miners from FutureBit have always been for home users and not for large mining farms and are designed around the idea of quality and reliability, silent operation at home and useful additional features. So do not expect these to be rivalling the latest generation of ASIC miners designed for big Bitcoin mining farms, although efficiency wise the Apollo II does compare very well efficiency wise to the current generation of Bitcoin mining ASICs on the market.

– Check out the official FutureBit website for more details about the Apollo II…

FutureBit Apollo BTC – A Bitcoin ASIC Miner and Full Node

1, Feb 2021

FutureBit Apollo BTC is an upcoming SHA256 ASIC miner designed for home users that is capable of not only mining, but also running a Full Bitcoin node. The device comes in the form of a compact and silent desktop class computer machine and is intended for home use and not for use in large crypto mining farms. It is based on the same idea of the FutureBit Apollo LTC Pod Scrypt ASIC Miner and Full Litecoin Node, but further improving things and not just only focusing on Bitcoin here.

FutureBit announced it is going to be taking Pre-Orders for the Apollo BTC starting this Friday 2/5/21 at 6PM EST (GMT-5) on their official website with shipping expected to begin at the end of April. The Batch 1 price starts at $349.99 USD, but the full package with the 500GB M.2 SSD and 200W dedicated PSU will cost you $599.99 USD and this is what you should probably get as it is the complete package that is ready to run.

The FutureBit Apollo BTC device consists of six CPU cores, 44 ASIC cores, 500GB NVMe-based SSD drive, quiet cooler, and with less than 200 Watts of power usage. At the heart of the new Apollo BTC device is a revamped SBC (Single Board Computer), that is as powerful as any consumer grade desktop system according to the developers and can run almost any Bitcoin Application natively on the device 24/7. All you have to do is to take it out of the box, plug it in, power it on, and you are already running a full Bitcoin node without needing to do anything more.

You can install a wallet of your choice, use any hardware wallet, run BTCPayServer, run a block explorer, run a Lightning Node and so much more. All of this is possible with the help of a six core ARM based CPU with 4GB of RAM, and a 500GB NVMe SSD drive that can easily store a FULL non pruned Bitcoin Node. The Apollo BTC device should be able to synchronize a Full Node in less than 48 hours, which is a record for a device of its class and almost an order of magnitude faster than any Raspberry Pi 4 based Bitcoin Full Node.

The FutureBit Apollo BTC mining hashrate and power usage is varying based on the settings you run it at, it should be capable of delivering between 2 and 3.8 TH/s of SHA256 performance per miner with 125 Watts of power usage in ECO mode, and 200 Watts in TURBO mode respectively. The best thing of all is that the device should be pretty silent, regardless of the modes it is running in, so that it can be friendly for home use as this is where its intended use is.

FutureBit Apollo BTC Features:
– Compact All-In-One Desktop Bitcoin System (4x6x4in) that mines Bitcoin and any SHA256 based crypto (Bitcoin Cash etc).
– Powerful 6 ARM Core CPU with 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM and 500GB NVMe SSD (NOT included in the Standard or Standard + package).
– Comes Pre-Installed with a Bitcoin node, and you can install almost any Bitcoin Application
– Very wide range of operation modes with preset ECO (quiet) mode, BALANCED, and TURBO mode.
– 2-3.8 TH/s of SHA256 performance per miner (+/- 5%)
– 125 Watts in ECO mode, and 200 Watts in TURBO * +/- 10%
– Can be used as a full Desktop computer with a monitor keyboard and mouse (not included), or through our Web UI
– Connect almost any peripheral with our USB 3.0 ports, USB C port, HDMI, AC Wifi, and Bluetooth
– Clocks and Power is fully customizable by user with easy-to-use interface
– Hashboard now monitors both voltage and power draw for accurate measurements*
– Custom designed cold forged hexagonal pin heatsink with leading thermal performance for the quietest ASIC miner in operation!
– 1k-5k RPM Quiet Dual Ball Bearing Fan with automatic thermal management with onboard temperature sensor
– Controlled via local connection on a web browser similar to Antminers. You can simply set it up via smartphone browser. No crazy driver installs, hard to use miner software or scripts needed.
– Two Six Pin PCIE power connectors for wide-range of power draw
– Custom Designed all Aluminum case
– Ships with a custom built 200W 94% efficient PSU and is ready to run out of the box! (Does NOT come with Standard package).

– For More Information About the FutureBit Apollo BTC ASIC Miner and Full Bitcoin Node…

Futurebit Apollo LTC Pod ASIC Miner Running Full Litecoin Node

25, Apr 2020

Futurebit’s Apollo LTC Pod ASIC Miner is not new, but the mining device is getting better and more functional over time. The latest Batch 3 of the Apollo comes with support for a full Litecoin (LTC) Node that can run on the miner itself with the blockchain stored on a large enough USB drive plugged in to the USB port of the device. There are three different version of the Apollo LTC Pod available – a Standard one for the miner only with no PSU sold for $349.99 USD, Full Package with a 200W custom power supply for $399.99 USD and a Full Node package that also includes a 64GB USB flash drive for the Litecoin blockchain available for $419.99 USD. All three versions support running a full Litecoin node, so you can use a custom PSU and your own USB flash drive if you already have them and get just the standard package or get everything bundled.

Full node support is available out of the box with the latest Batch 3 of the Apollo LTC Pod miners, earlier Batch 2 miners will just require software update in order to be able to get the new functionality. Owners of the first batch of Futurebit Apollo LTC Pod ASIC miners however should need a hardware upgrade in the form of a new MCU board due to insufficient RAM on Batch 1 units. The good news is that there is also an Apollo Full Node Upgrade Kit available. Here you can find more details and instructions on how to run a full node on the Futurebit Apollo LTC Pod.

Futurebit Apollo LTC Pod ASIC Miner Features:
– Compact Stand-alone Pod Style Miner (4x6x4in) that mines any scrypt based algorithm coin (Litecoin, Digibyte, Verge, Einsteinium, Gulden, etc)
– Runs a Full Litecoin Node directly on the device
– Very wide range of operation modes with preset ECO (quiet) mode, BALANCED, and TURBO mode.
– 100-135+ MH/s of Scrypt performance per miner (+/- 5%)
– Industry leading 1W/MH in ECO mode, and 1.4W/MH for TURBO (100-200 watts +/- 10%)
– Powered by a fully integrated Quad-Core A7 ARM based controller
– First miner to be fully controlled over wifi, only cable needed is power! (this will be a Beta feature on launch..backup ethernet port is available as well).
– Clocks and Voltage is fully customizable by user with easy to use interface (no more pots!)
– Industry leading 97% efficiency 12v power-stage, with 27 ASIC chips powered in a 3×9 parallel/serial power arrangement
– Custom designed cold forged hexagonal pin heatsink with leading thermal performance for the quietest ASIC miner in operation!
– 2k-6k PWM High Static Pressure Dual Ball Bearing Fan with automatic thermal management with onboard temperature sensor
– Controlled via local connection on a web browser similar to antminers. You can simply set it up via smartphone browser. No crazy driver installs, hard to use miner software or scripts needed.
– Two Six Pin PCIE power connectors for wide-range of power draw (only one is needed in ECO mode)
– Custom Designed all Aluminum case
– Now comes with its own optional PSU and is ready to run out of the box with the PSU+SD Card option!
– New future platform features including full-node/peer to peer fully decentralize mining, full stand-alone solo mining, cloud/app based controls, and more in development.

Do note that the Apollo LTC Pod ASIC miner is not intended for use in large Scypt ASIC mining farms, the device is designed with the home user in mind that will most likely run a single not so powerful miner at home and will require a more affordable and silent in terms of operation hardware. The Apollo LTC Pod is a Scrypt miner that comes with its own web-based control and monitoring functionality, it is a standalone miner that does not require to be connected to a computer to operate. With it you can mine any Scrypt-based cryptocurrency and not just Litecoin (LTC), however as far as the new full node support is concerned it is only for Litecoin at the moment in order to provide more nodes to the network.

– If you are interested in the Futurebit Apollo LTC Pod ASIC Miner Running Full Litecoin Node…


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