TL; DR: Is a depressing familiar scenario back? Following the recent rise in cryptocurrency prices, particularly Bitcoin, graphics cards are expected to become even scarcer as miners largely grab them for their equipment. The situation exacerbates the current supply problems experienced by the RTX 3000 and Radeon RX 6000 series.
After reaching its previous record of $ 19,700 at the end of 2017, Bitcoin dropped to a low of $ 3,200 a year later. It has long stagnated between $ 7,000 and $ 9,000, but since December, the price has gone through the roof, surpassing $ 20,000 last month and recently breaking the $ 30,000 barrier.
Ethereum has experienced a similar revival – the price of crypto has quadrupled in the past year to about $ 1,000.
Crypto pricing via coinmarketcap
The more valuable a crypto-currency is, the more profit a miner can earn each day. And with the new generation of graphics cards offering more power at lower price points than ever before, people can break even fewer days. Tom’s Hardware points out that the $ 399 RTX 3060 Ti paid for itself after 80 days of mining.
History seems to be repeating itself. As Bitcoin and Ethereum soared in 2017, the price of graphics cards – those in stock – skyrocketed as demand outweighed supply. Consumer anger has led Nvidia to urge retailers to prioritize gamers over miners. Eventually, a weakening crypto market finally brought GPU prices back to normal. When the crypto-collapse came, Nvidia’s share price fell, and last year it faced a lawsuit alleging that the company reported $ 1 billion in crypto revenue as gaming revenue.
What is unique this time is that we have been short of the latest graphics cards since their release. Nvidia has repeatedly said that its GPU supply issues will last until at least the end of January, and with crypto pricing continuing, it may take a while before players can upgrade their computers.
Masthead Credit: Tech4Gamers