Demand for graphics cards has slumped back to pre-cryptocurrency boom prices as the price of Bitcoin and other digital currencies continues to fall, even as new card designs threaten to shake-up the market. Graphics card makers, such as Nvidia, had hoped the cryptocurrency boom would boost sales throughout the year, estimating returns of hundreds of millions of dollars. But the price of many graphics cards, normally used for video gaming but coopted for mining cryptocurrencies, has halved in recent months. The price of a top level Nvidia GTX 1080 card fell from around £800 in January to around £400 this month. Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, a digital currency that exists only online, are generated... Register or log in to view this and other Technology Intelligence articles. It's free and easy to do. Access brilliant stories, features and analysis Sign up to our exclusive Technology Intelligence daily newsletter Become part of our ambitious new Tech networking … [Read more...] about End of cryptocurrency gold rush hits demand for graphics card miners
Bitcoin gold rush
As bitcoin world wobbles, mining rig company plans $2 billion IPO
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Bitcoins are worth less than half of what they were in December. Mining them is 60 percent less profitable than it was in 2017. Even retailers of hobbyist mining rigs say they are seeing fewer customers. High-end graphic cards are installed in a cryptocurrency mining computer at a computer mall in Hong Kong, China May 17, 2018. Picture taken May 17, 2018. REUTERS/Bobby Yip Why, then, is Canaan Inc, a leading cryptocurrency mining rig supplier, looking to raise up to $2 billion, according to two sources with knowledge of the deal, in the world’s biggest bitcoin-focused initial public offering to date? Canaan is expected to present itself to investors not so much as a bitcoin company, but as a chip designer focused on developing other markets in artificial intelligence and blockchain, the electronic ledger that underpins bitcoin. “Their customers happen to be bitcoin miners. But they are a chip company, not a bitcoin company,” said one … [Read more...] about As bitcoin world wobbles, mining rig company plans $2 billion IPO
How The Tiny Nation Of Georgia Became A Bitcoin Behemoth
Facebook Twitter Flipboard Email Enlarge this image Cryptocurrency mining has come to the Alazani Valley in eastern Georgia. U.S.-based company Bitfury accounts for much of the buzz. Andrew North for NPR hide caption toggle caption Andrew North for NPR Cryptocurrency mining has come to the Alazani Valley in eastern Georgia. U.S.-based company Bitfury accounts for much of the buzz. Andrew North for NPR Since long before anyone can remember, the big, fertile slopes of the Alazani Valley in eastern Georgia have been planted with grape vines. It's the heartland of wine-making in the country that invented it 8,000 years ago. But in recent months, the valley has been going through a new kind of ferment, because of bitcoin. "You see that building there with the power line outside," says Bezhani Buzhaidze, pointing to an abandoned-looking, cinder block storehouse in his hometown of Telavi, the hub of Georgian wine country. "That's being turned into a data center … [Read more...] about How The Tiny Nation Of Georgia Became A Bitcoin Behemoth
Gondo’s new gold rush: cryptocurrency boom breathes life into Swiss village
Alpine Mining co-founder and CEO Ludovic Thomas works at company's main cryptocurrency mining site in Gondo. Photo: AFP Up until a century ago, the southern Swiss village of Gondo was famous for gold mining, but the industry closed and Gondo fell on harder times. Now the miners are back and helping revitalise the tiny village on the Italian border, only they are no longer looking for gold. Tucked away in a windowless bunker in Gondo, 900 graphic cards bombinate incessantly as they "mine" virtual currencies. "It is very interesting from a historical perspective," Gondo's deputy president, Paul Fux, told news agency AFP "We had gold mines that were famous all over the world... Now we have a new breed of miners," he laughed. He was referring to a group of young men who have descended on the village which today counts only around 50 inhabitants with a business few locals understand: mining cryptocurrencies. Gondo in the Swiss canton of Valais. Photo: AFP … [Read more...] about Gondo’s new gold rush: cryptocurrency boom breathes life into Swiss village
Bitcoin Heist: 600 Powerful Computers Stolen in Iceland
Some 600 computers used to "mine" bitcoin and other virtual currencies have been stolen from data centers in Iceland in what police say is the biggest series of thefts ever in the North Atlantic island nation.Some 11 people were arrested, including a security guard, in what Icelandic media have dubbed the "Big Bitcoin Heist." A judge at the Reykjanes District Court on Friday ordered two people to remain in custody. Advertisement - Continue Reading Below The powerful computers, which have not yet been found, are worth almost $2 million. But if the stolen equipment is used for its original purpose — to create new bitcoins — the thieves could turn a massive profit in an untraceable currency without ever selling the items."This is a grand theft on a scale unseen before," said Olafur Helgi Kjartansson, the police commissioner on the southwestern Reykjanes peninsula, where two of the burglaries took place. "Everything points to this being a highly organized crime."Three of four … [Read more...] about Bitcoin Heist: 600 Powerful Computers Stolen in Iceland