Nvidia bets big on Ethereum mining with new dedicated graphics chip



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The chipmaker was overwhelmed by the massive use of its graphics chips by Ethereum and Bitcoin miners in 2017. But it’s prepared this time around.

Nvidia’s Ethereum bet

Graphics chipmaker Nvidia said on Thursday it would release a new series of semiconductors specifically for Ethereum mining, according to a report on Edge. The company had huge success with the industry in 2017 when it claimed to make hundreds of millions of dollars per quarter selling chips to cryptocurrency miners.

The California-based company designs graphics processing units for the gaming and professional markets, as well as system-on-chip units for the mobile computing and automotive market. These are important for crypto miners, who use massive computing power to “mine” blocks on PoW networks like Ethereum and Bitcoin, in turn for “rewards.”

Nvidia was overwhelmed by demand for its chips in 2017 when the crypto market recovered significantly. Prices have risen rapidly beyond the budget of the average gaming and PC enthusiast, drawing criticism from several quarters.

But this time is different for Nvidia; he is now ready for the next bullrun. The new type of chip is called CMP, or Cryptocurrency Mining Processor, and will go on sale in March, an Nvidia spokesperson said. This is the very first dedicated crypto-mining chip released by the company.

Crypto miners drive demand

The company said part of the demand for its chips came from crypto miners, a segment it would now target. “CMP products – which do not make graphics – are sold through authorized partners and optimized for the best performance and mining efficiency,” said Matt Wuebbling, GeForce Marketing Manager at Nvidia.

He added:

“The RTX 3060 software drivers are designed to detect specific attributes of the Ethereum cryptocurrency mining algorithm and limit the hash rate, or the efficiency of cryptocurrency mining, by approximately 50%. . “

RTX 3060 is the latest chip released by Nvidia. But until unlike previous products, this one was tweaked to prevent users from using it to mine Ethereum – a move that is boosting demand for CMP while preventing any shortage of vendors for gamers.

Nvidia had a record year in 2017 after the recovery of the crypto mining sector. CEO Jensen Huang said at the time, “Cryptocurrency and blockchain are here to stay. Market needs will increase and over time they will become quite large. “

What happened instead was a three-year bear market, a market that caused Nvidia’s chip shelves to collect dust and oversupply, causing problems for distributors and retailers. The company kind of got out of those waters back then.

However, it now looks set to meet the demand for crypto.

Posted in: Ethereum, Mining

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