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Disseminated via PRN on 24 March 2026
24 March 2026
Quantum Blockchain Technologies Plc
("QBT" or "the Company")
Commencement of Testing of the AI Oracle on a Bitmain Mining Rig
Quantum Blockchain Technologies plc (AIM: QBT), the AIM-listed investment company focused principally on a research, development and investment programme within blockchain technology is pleased to confirm that an internal project, which it started in August 2025, to use a Bitmain Antminer S9 ("S9") mining rig as a testing and commercial demonstration environment for the software version of QBT's Method C's AI Oracle, has now reached the live in-house testing stage.
The purpose for this project is to enable the Company to demonstrate to potential customers results of the AI Oracle's enhanced performance on a commercial grade mining rig.
Historically, QBT's R&D team has provided results based on the performance of its software simulator which the Company has been running in its Milan laboratory for over a year. However, following a number of meetings with larger US-based Bitcoin mining companies, it is the view of the QBT Board that the AI Oracle's results can be expected to appeal to a wider market if the Company were to showcase successfully the software's efficiencies on an industry recognised commercial mining rig, such as the S9.
A key factor in the decision to select the S9 was that it is the last Bitmain mining rig to use a publicly available open-source operating system and firmware for field-programmable gate array ("FPGA") on the control boards. All new mining rigs produced by Bitmain (e.g. S19, S21 and S23) no longer provide open-source accessibility.
So far, QBT has successfully modified both the operating system and FPGA firmware on the S9 in order to make it suitable for the software version of Method C's AI Oracle installation which will be done in three steps:
· Data collection of the ASIC Hashing behavior to train the AI Oracle,
· Integration of the AI Oracle with the existing S9 software environment and,
· Testing and fine tuning of AI Oracle's performance during live mining.
QBT's S9 provides an excellent testbed to demonstrate the performance of the Company's technology on a real industrial mining rig which can facilitate proof of concept which QBT can then deploy on current commercial mining rigs.
The Company anticipates that the ability to demonstrate the increased quality hashing performance on the S9 is a key step in securing commercial demonstrations with large Bitcoin miners. QBT's commercial targets are therefore represented by companies that fall into two categories and QBT plans to target both:
As regards aftermarket control boards manufacturers, QBT has engaged in ongoing discussions with these companies and anticipates that access to these aftermarket control boards (and related operating systems and firmware) can be obtained once a commercial agreement has been made.
It is important to clarify that the porting of Method C's AI Oracle onto the recently delivered third party ASIC manufacturer's mining rig, now delivered and operational in QBT's R&D laboratory in Milan University (as announced on 6 March 2026) is a separate project to the S9 one. Results from the tests on the ASIC manufacturer's rig will not be able to be shared with the general Bitcoin mining market, hence the need to complete identical testing on a generic miner, such as the S9.
The Company can state, however, that the previously reported increased mining efficiency demonstrated on QBT's laboratory simulator is now being tested on commercial miners. Having performed exhaustive tests on the simulator for many months, the Company believes that the AI Oracle will duly perform when scaled-up to a multiple ASIC miner although there cannot be guarantee at this stage.
These two simultaneous projects with the S9 and ASIC manufacturer's mining rigs will be the first commercial tests of the software version of QBT's AI Oracle.
Francesco Gardin, CEO and Executive Chairman of QBT, commented, "I am extremely pleased with the results achieved so far, which show how the Company has mastered the inner most details of all levels of a commercial mining rig. The set-up of the AI Oracle on the S9 is a key milestone which has taken us from using Method C on a software simulator which QBT has been running in its Milan laboratory for over a year, to the full multi-ASIC mining rig.
We stated in our announcement of 19 June 2025 that QBT was targeting the installation of its technology onto the aftermarket control boards operating system software and the core firmware of commercial mining rigs. Subsequently, based on the many meetings we have held with potential partners and customers on the implementation of this strategy, the Company took a view that it would implement this strategy simultaneously on the Bitmain Antminer S9, the only available rig with an open-source operating system software and core firmware. We believe the increased mining efficiency demonstrated by this project will open up a much larger target market for our products."
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For further information please contact:
Quantum Blockchain Technologies Plc +39 335 296573
Francesco Gardin, CEO and Executive Chairman
SP Angel Corporate Finance (Nominated Adviser & Broker) +44 (0) 20 3470 0470
Jeff Keating/ Caroline Rowe / Devik Mehta
Leander (Financial PR) +44 (0) 7795 168 157
Christian Taylor-Wilkinson
About Quantum Blockchain Technologies Plc
QBT (AIM: QBT) is a London Stock Exchange AIM listed Research & Development and investing company focused on an intensive R&D programme to disrupt the Blockchain Technologies sector which includes, cryptocurrency mining and other advanced blockchain applications. The primary goal of the R&D programme is to develop Bitcoin mining tools and techniques, via its technology-driven approach, which the Company believes will significantly outperform existing market practices.
| Date | 24 Mar 2026 |
| Time | 07:00:00 |
| Category | Miscellaneous |
| ID | nsm:68a25a68-e8b4-4f2f-bdc5-bd0a131d54b2.html |