Proof of work mining for blockchains such as Bitcoin and Ethereum have gone a long way, and while the Ethereum merge is on its way, the price of GPUs and ASIC mining equipment have slowed down from its notorious spikes.
According to a report by Xiao Junhui of Taiwan Economic Daily, Nvidia, one of the largest manufacturers of GPUs, is set to cut down on its GPU prices due to overstock issues. This statement was made in reference to Nvidia CEO Huang Renxun’s recent disclosure of the overstock issues, hence the resulting price reduction for majority of its GPU products. Renxun also shared that the move was also influenced by the mounting pressure to cooperate with demands from Taiwan-based silicon factories and chip fabrication facilities.
The value of Bitcoin, at one point, has fallen drastically from a previous all-time high of roughly $68k. This has also prompted miners to reconsider their positions and investments for the alpha cryptocurrency, as well as the actual, long-term viability of proof of work-based mining with GPUs. Nvidia itself has recently stated that its earnings, as Ethereum miners have moved away from GPU-based mining due to the forthcoming merge. Both Nvidia and its competitor, AMD, have released crypto-specific GPUs, a move that’s seen as a response to the high demand between 2020 and 2021 for GPUs that cater to crypto mining needs. However, as the open market for GPUs have stabilized while the worldwide silicon shortage continued, demand for crypto mining GPUs seems to have waned off.
For some time before this year, the shortage of GPUs has been reported across a range of industries, and the crypto miner market has been buying up the restricted supply of GPUs in large quantities, with scalpers then selling them off second-hand at exorbitant rates. This is in contrast with what Nvidia and AMD are now reporting and referring to as their “overstocked” inventory. According to reports, the two firms will likely set a new wave of price reductions come September. OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) such as Asus, Gigabyte, and Palit have not confirmed yet how this will affect their own pricing figures, but its good news nonetheless for gamers and content creators who also need GPUs for their daily drivers.
The consequences of these news on supply shortages and GPU price slides amid a still ongoing global recession and pandemic will likely create ripples in the crypto space. The expense of sustaining GPU mining at home or even through a warehouse can be disastrous, even for experienced miners. The market might see another big dump of GPUs being sold off as people abandon GPU mining, or we could see a slight increase in GPU prices as the industry moves to adopt ASICs that have been developed by Bitmain and other firms. It’s still too early to tell how these will affect GPU sales and crypto-mining in general, but these new conditions are shaping up to be another big factor in how we’ll see the overall crypto market close out as the year ends.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
