news hardware Ethereum mining is over: will RTX 4000 graphics cards be easier to use?
The recent time between the announcement of the new RTX 4000 and the discontinuation of graphics cards for mining on Ethereum has raised questions about the future of GPUs. Obviously, many are wondering if stopping the mining of the second cryptocurrency will have an impact on stock availability and graphics card prices. Here are some factors that may affect future component prices.
The merger of Ethereum: How will it affect the RTX 4000 graphics card?
After Ethereum transitions to proof-of-stake, many expect an immediate impact on GPU prices. Undoubtedly, the Merge event that allows mining to move away from graphics cards and instead use Ethereum directly should have a positive impact on the price of the new RTX 4080 and 4090.
While Ethereum’s The Merge update is good news for the environment and cryptocurrency users, it’s not necessarily good news for mining professionals and enthusiasts.
In this case, those who used to use graphics cards to mine Ethereum would have to give up the hardware necessary for their past activities. Therefore, the third-generation RTX is very likely to face the supply shock of old graphics cards in the secondary market.
In fact, after the update, crypto miners no longer need to buy machines that generate computing power to mine Ethereum. So there will definitely be less pressure on these consumers to demand the new RTX 4000 graphics cards, which will make PC gamers happy.
Although several miners started selling their graphics card inventory long before The Merge arrived, some prefer to move to other solutions.
Miners can continue to use their graphics cards to mine other cryptocurrencies
It’s important to remember that the new features of the Ethereum cryptocurrency don’t completely end mining – this gives miners an opportunity to bounce back. In fact, the crypto market is full of proof-of-work based cryptocurrencies, so graphics cards are used for mining.
These include forks of Ethereum, such as Ethereum Classic (ETC). Ethereum Classic worked just like Ethereum in the early days. In short, the cryptocurrency is based on the original Ethereum network. Therefore, miners can continue to use their graphics cards to mine ETC cryptocurrency on this alternative network.
In addition, these cryptocurrencies took over the operations of Ethereum, and there are other cryptocurrencies such as Ravencoin or Ergo. There is no shortage of alternatives, but, for minors, these second options are less interesting…
Low-yield cryptocurrency for miners
Currently, these cryptocurrencies are unprofitable as prices fall across the market. Crypto mining activities incur substantial fees:
- Hardware (GPU, ASIC)
- Electricity
- maintain
To pay these fees, miners must sell the cryptocurrency they generate. However, when the value of these cryptocurrencies falls, the operation becomes narrower. For example, mining Ravencoin with an Nvidia RTX 3080 currently only earns $0.13 to $0.26 per day, not including electricity, according to PC Mag.
With this data, it is clear that mining these alternative cryptocurrencies is not an ideal solution. So, to be sure, miners are more likely to gravitate towards the first option in the short term — selling their hardware.
Still, it’s important to remember that Bitcoin is also a possible solution. In this sense, the new RTX 4000 will definitely be taken over by BTC miners. However, as with other cryptocurrencies, the timing is still not right due to the price – which makes Bitcoin mining unprofitable.
