A fake Whatsminer or fake Antminer is rarely a machine built from scratch. Usually it is a genuine chassis carrying another model’s boards, a lower bin relabelled as a higher one, a unit with swapped or dead hashboards, or a cloned website taking payment for hardware that never ships.
Bitmain’s support page says it has no official distributor or reseller anywhere and sells only through its own website. MicroBT says its only official websites are microbt.com and whatsminer.com, and it names its partners on its own site. So the useful question is not whether a seller calls itself authorised. It is whether the machine in front of you checks out.
Six checks answer that. Match the label, the serial in the dashboard and the quote. Run the serial through the manufacturer’s warranty lookup. Look inside the case, where it is safe to. Run the machine on a pool for 24 hours and measure wall power. Confirm factory firmware. Check the seller and the payment route. Most take minutes with the machine in front of you; the running test takes a day.
Keep Hashing runs the machine checks on every used unit it sells, and we will show you how to run them on anyone else’s.
What a fake Whatsminer or fake Antminer actually is
A relabelled bin or model. The chassis is genuine; the label claims a higher hashrate or a newer model than the boards inside deliver. Wall power against hashrate exposes it.
Swapped or dead hashboards. Boards from another unit, another model or another revision sit inside a genuine case, or a board is dead and the machine runs short. A serial that checks out does not prove the boards are healthy.
Refurbished sold as new. A repaired unit in clean packaging. The warranty lookup and the open case usually show it.
Non-delivery. A cloned website or an impersonated account takes payment and nothing ships. No machine check helps here; only the seller and payment checks do.
The general used-unit checks are on the full used-unit checklist. This page covers authenticity and tampering.
What the manufacturers say
Bitmain’s support article on telling real from fake machines states: “BITMAIN does not have any official distributor or reseller anywhere.” Bitmain Support, “Identify Real and Fake Miners”, created 22 Oct 2018, updated 26 Aug 2024. The same page tells buyers to compare physical dimensions, casing, hashboard sizes, control board build and label placement against the real model, and to ask the seller for more real photos from different angles. It does not mention serial numbers or a warranty tool.
MicroBT’s 2019 notice on scam websites says its only official websites are microbt.com and whatsminer.com, and that it has not authorised anyone else to run a website on its behalf MicroBT, “Please be Careful of these Scam Websites”, listed 24 April 2019. A later MicroBT notice lists its official channels, names known impersonator sites and accounts, and warns that “a real MicroBT representative will never message you directly to ask for personal information.” MicroBT, “Beware of These Fake MicroBT and WhatsMiner Accounts”, listed 27 April 2023.
MicroBT does work with named partners and lists them on its own Partner page MicroBT Partner page. If a seller claims to be authorised by MicroBT, check that claim against MicroBT’s own site.
Keep Hashing is not on that list, and we do not claim to be an authorised distributor of either brand. We are a supplier in Dubai. We source through established supply channels, bench-test every used unit, and sell new units sealed. See the Whatsminer range in the UAE and the Antminer range.
The six checks at a glance
| Check | What to look at | What a fail looks like | Who can do it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Label, serial, dashboard | Chassis label, serial in the web dashboard, the model quoted | Any of the three disagree | Buyer, or seller on video |
| 2. Warranty lookup | Manufacturer lookup by serial | Not found, or dates that contradict the story | Buyer |
| 3. Open case | Board count and markings, PSU, fans, solder, paste, screws | Mismatched parts or signs of a board swap | Bench, or seller on video (used units only) |
| 4. Running test | 24 hours on a pool, plus a wall meter | Hashrate under the label, or watts per TH far off the published J/TH | Bench, or seller with a recording |
| 5. Firmware and network | Factory firmware, isolated network | Custom firmware nobody mentioned | Buyer or bench |
| 6. Seller and payment | Invoice, account name, test evidence | Payment first, evidence never | Buyer |
Check 1: the label, the serial and the web UI
Every unit carries a serial on its chassis label, and the miner’s web dashboard reports one too. Three things must agree: the serial on the label, the serial the dashboard shows, and the model the seller named.
A mismatch means the label, the control board or the story has changed since the machine left the factory. Ask why before you go further. Then run the serial lookup on the serial from the dashboard, not only the one on the sticker.
Check 2: the warranty lookup
Bitmain’s lookup runs by serial number at service.bitmain.com/support/warranty. Bitmain’s own article says the warranty on new miners outside the 19 series is “generally 180 days”, counted from the official dispatch date; new 19-series units and new PSUs generally get 365 days Bitmain, “Miner Warranty Check”, updated 2 Sept 2024.
MicroBT’s support page has its own warranty check, which also asks for the serial number MicroBT Support, Warranty Check. MicroBT’s terms for the M60S are one year, and they exclude serial numbers that have been modified, defaced or removed MicroBT M60S after-sales policy. A tampered serial voids MicroBT’s warranty on MicroBT’s own terms.
Read the result with care. A status tells you the serial exists and roughly when it shipped. It does not tell you that the boards inside are the ones the serial was issued with. A lookup that finds nothing is a warning. Step by step, and what to do when a unit is out of warranty: how to check the warranty by serial number.
Check 3: open the case
This check is for used and out-of-warranty units. MicroBT’s warranty excludes unauthorised disassembly, so do not open a new, in-warranty Whatsminer; rely on checks 1, 2 and 4 instead MicroBT M60S after-sales policy.
With the lid off a used unit, look for:
- Hashboards: the number of boards and their version markings should be consistent with the model on the label.
- PSU: the model on its label should be the one the manufacturer specifies for that machine.
- Fans: the fan model should match across the unit.
- Solder and flux: fresh rework, flux residue or reflowed areas on boards sold as untouched.
- Thermal paste: fresh or uneven paste on a unit described as original.
- Fixings: mismatched screws, stripped heads or wear marks that point to a board swap.
A seller can show all of this on a video call before you travel. For what a failed board looks like in practice, see what a dead hashboard looks like.
Check 4: the running test
A ten-minute demo shows the machine switches on. A 24-hour run on a pool shows whether it holds its rated output. Over that day, look at reported hashrate against the bin on the label, board temperatures, fan speeds and rejected shares.
Then measure wall power with a meter. Divide watts by the pool-reported TH/s and compare the result with the manufacturer’s published J/TH. That single number exposes a model swap, because older boards cost more watts per terahash.
Two worked references. Bitmain rates the Antminer S21 Pro at 234 TH/s and 3,510 W, or 15 J/TH, with ±3% on hashrate and ±5% on power, so a healthy unit draws roughly 3,335 to 3,686 W at the wall Bitmain S21 Pro specification. MicroBT lists the Whatsminer M60S in bins of 184, 186 and 188 TH/s at 18.5 J/TH, and shows 3,478 W MicroBT M60S specification. A unit sold as an M60S that settles at, say, 23 J/TH on your meter is running something else. For both machines side by side, see the M60S vs S21 comparison.
Check 5: firmware and network
A unit should arrive on factory firmware. Custom firmware can change how hashrate is reported, and MicroBT’s warranty excludes damage from unofficial software and from parameter changes such as overclocking. Ask what firmware is installed and why, if it is not factory. Before an unknown machine touches your pool account, put it on its own network segment.
Check 6: the seller and the payment
Before you travel or pay, ask for:
- photos of the serial on the label and in the dashboard;
- a recorded stability run with the pool dashboard visible;
- the original invoice, if the unit is sold as in warranty;
- the seller’s written warranty, if any.
Then look at the payment route. An invoice from the business you are dealing with, payable to that business’s account, is the baseline. Payment to a personal account, a name that does not match the invoice, or payment before you have seen any evidence, is where buyers lose money. Remember MicroBT’s warning above: its staff do not message buyers directly asking for personal or payment details.
A Dubai buyer has advantages an online buyer does not. You can visit, watch the test and pay against an invoice. A used listing on a classifieds site, with a price and no test evidence, is exactly where every one of these checks earns its time.
Where Keep Hashing fits
Every used unit we sell goes through the Deira bench first: serial photos before dispatch, rated hashrate verified, a recorded stability run with hashrate and temperature logged, factory firmware confirmed, and written warranty terms with the quote. Browse tested used miners.
New units ship sealed, so the manufacturer’s warranty stays intact. Their serials can be run through checks 1 and 2 before you pay.
Bought a machine elsewhere and want it checked? Bring it to the Deira workshop for a written diagnosis and quote before any work.