**1,200+ open-source miner firmware projects exist for ASICs today**—yet Blake2B’s lack of open-source mining hardware is a real bottleneck, especially when you compare it to Bitcoin’s ecosystem where even hobbyists can spin up mining rigs from public schematics. The argument that "a lot of people run open-source miners" on Bitcoin is technically true, but it’s also a *feature*—the protocol’s design explicitly incentivizes participation through transparency, not just hardware availability.

That said, Blake2B’s team could flip the script by releasing *reference designs* for DIY miners—even if they don’t open-source the full ASIC specs. Have they considered a "community challenge" where early adopters get to test-build prototypes, like early Bitcoin GPU miners did? (Just a thought—what’s their stance on hardware accessibility?)