Virtual currency mining bubble GPU maker, the possibility of a dire situation after the bubble is over

In 2017 the virtual currency market continued to rise significantly throughout the year, and the virtual currency mining using the graphic board for PC games became a big boom as the market price rose. Although NVIDIA and AMD have been boosted further by strong demand due to demand for graphic boards that can not be handled by gamers, there are indications that severe reality may be waiting after the "virtual currency bubble" has burst .

Cryptocurrency has been great for GPU makers - that might change soon | Ars Technica
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2018/05/cryptocurrency-has-been-great-for-gpu-makers-that-might-change-soon/

On May 10, 2018 NVIDIA announced the settlement of accounts from February to April 2018, with sales of 3.27 billion dollars (about 350 billion yen), profits roughly 2.5 times compared to the same period last year, 1,24400 It was revealed that it was a good achievement of 10,000 dollars (about 140 billion yen). NVIDIA is a great star due to worldwide strong AI demand, but there is no doubt that there was a good graphic board sales as one of the reasons that supported good results. "Demand for virtual currencies is more than anticipated, and sales for $ 289 million (about 32 billion yen) for virtual currency mining were sold by NVIDIA's Collette Cress CFO."

AMD of rival also received the benefit of minor demand which is also called "virtual currency mining bubble". Clearly, in 2017, mining demand accounted for one-third of the profit of the graphic board division by successfully incorporating the virtual currency mining special demand as well as the CPU division that was strong due to the release of the "Ryzen" series It is becoming.

Announcing 2017 announced earnings revival of AMD full revenue, profitability recovered dramatically from deficit to surplus - GIGAZINE


It was 2017 when the virtual currency mining was greatly upheld supported by the rapid rally in the virtual currency as a whole, but in 2018 the market fell and the mining demand is decreasing rapidly. Because of this, the situation that the graphic board was exhausted from the market was improved, the availability was getting better, and the price which had been soaring has also declined. However, the demand for virtual currency mining is still strong, and depending on the virtual currency market which is fiercely fluctuating, it is anticipated that it will become a year of passion that it will be difficult for gamers to acquire high-performance graphic boards continuously for 2018 as well.

Gamers become increasingly difficult to obtain graphic boards due to the surge in virtual currency exchange rates - GIGAZINE


It is clearly known that the virtual currency mining demand plummets as the virtual currency market plummets. As a result, manufacturers are forced to be cautious about increasing the production of graphic boards, as they are wary of the tide of mining demand that is uncertain of when they will come. The strong demand now is sure to be lost with the end of the virtual currency mining bubble and the demand for the graphic board division which is too good can suddenly disappear. In addition, once the virtual currency mining bubble starts, it will be a nightmare for graphic board manufacturers that new graphic boards will not sell by huge numbers of graphic boards previously held by virtual currency miners on the second hand market. It is also pointed out that such a situation may come.

AMD's Lisa Su said in the financial results report in April 2018 that he is not so worried about the scenario of the collapse of the virtual currency mining bubble. This is because even if there are multiple virtual currencies being mined and the price of one virtual currency collapses, the virtual currency minor shifts to another currency and continues mining, and for graphic boards for the purpose of playing PC games It is probable that it is likely to continue to hold.

However, it is the virtual currency Ethereum (Etoriamu) which is the largest scale in the virtual currency mining using the graphic board, and Ethereum's price has a big influence on other Alt coin (ortho coin) market There is also an objection that the demand for graphic boards in virtual currency mining may be greatly diminished due to the introduction of ASIC tools for Ethereum mining and others.

ASIC-equipped machines compatible with the virtual currency "Ethernet" will appear, will it stop the graphic board exhaustion due to mining? - GIGAZINE


Also, users who use graphic boards for both game and virtual currency mining are mostly using multiple graphic boards, so if the need for virtual currency mining disappears, graphic boards are still sent to the second-hand market There is also an indication that it is not.

Even if the virtual currency mining bubble collapses and a large number of graphic boards will be overflowing in the second-hand market, the graphic boards used for mining are all overused, even if they are inexpensive It seems not necessarily a good story for gamers.