Bitcoin breaks through $50,000! Graphics cards rise by thousands of yuan, but are still hard to buy...

Cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin are recovering rapidly, reigniting sentiment in the cryptocurrency community and pushing up graphics card prices again.

On August 23, Bitcoin broke through the $50,000 mark for the first time since May 11.

In addition to the cryptocurrency players who pay close attention to the price trend of the currency, other users who have graphics card needs and are waiting for the best entry time are also sensitive to the price of cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin has risen again, will graphics cards also rise in price?

The price rose 52% overnight

In April 2021, a Beijing Business Daily reporter mentioned in a report that due to factors such as cryptocurrency mining activities, electronic products such as graphics cards and hard drives were in short supply and their prices rose sharply. Four months later, after domestic mining activities were completely stopped and the price of coins plummeted, on August 23, Beijing Business Daily reporters learned from various sources that graphics cards are still at a premium and difficult to buy, and their prices have also fluctuated sharply along with cryptocurrencies.

"I started researching graphics card prices in mid-May, and thought that the best time for discounts would be during the events on various e-commerce platforms in mid-June. After watching for three months, I saw prices go down and then go up again. Now I can only continue to wait." Li Hua (pseudonym) said on August 23.

Li Hua pointed out that as an amateur gamer, he had noticed the rapid increase in graphics card prices, but because he did not have much demand for them, he did not pay much attention to the specific price increase. "I wanted to take advantage of the discount to rebuild my computer, but I found that I could no longer afford it."

According to Li Hua, Nvidia's RTX30 series graphics cards were wildly overpriced from March to May 2021, then gradually declined until they began to rise again in August. Taking the Nvidia RTX3060 graphics card as an example, the original price was 2,499 yuan, and the highest price in a brand flagship store on JD.com was 7,499 yuan. "After entering July, the price dropped significantly, with the lowest price falling below 4,000 yuan, and now the price is 4,599 yuan.

"What's even more amazing is that an RTX3080 graphics card that I'm interested in was originally priced at 5,499 yuan. On July 30, a store sold it for 9,599 yuan, and on July 31, it was directly priced at 14,599 yuan. It rose by 52% in just one night. Is there any better investment product than a graphics card?" Li Hua said jokingly.

Beijing Business Daily reporters noticed that despite the obvious premium, the graphics cards sold in the flagship stores of various online shopping malls are still out of stock for a long time, and the few products that are available are mostly limited to 1 or 2 pieces. In the comment area of ​​related products, there are few discussions about product performance, and more users are "checking in" for their daily quotes. In addition, many users have raised questions about the mining power of graphics cards.

Beijing Business Daily reporters further compared the price trend of the currency based on the quotes provided by users and found that the price of the graphics card and the currency have almost kept pace, whether it is the overall trend in recent months or the individual quotes on a certain day. Take the RTX3080 graphics card that Li Hua is concerned about as an example. On July 31, the quote rose by 52%, and Bitcoin closed up 6.31% on the same day; on August 20, the quote rose by 1,000 yuan from the previous trading day, and Bitcoin closed up 6.41% on the same day.

Pan Helin, professor and executive dean of the Digital Economy Research Institute of Central South University of Finance and Economics, analyzed that the price fluctuations of graphics cards are affected by many factors. In addition to the current supply being affected by the chip supply, the rise in currency prices has increased mining revenue, and the profitability of miners has increased the demand for graphics cards, which ultimately led to an increase in graphics card prices.

Mining cards boycotted by gamers

As domestic cryptocurrency mining activities were forced to stop in May, this "mining disaster" also made gamers who also need graphics cards "get ready to go". According to user feedback, many users chose to buy graphics cards during the low price period.

Brand new graphics cards are hard to buy at a premium, and the second-hand market is also in chaos. According to Li Hua, after the domestic cryptocurrency mining activities were stopped, a large number of Nvidia RTX30 series graphics cards appeared on the second-hand commodity trading platform, and some sellers even said that "the mining farm closed down and sold graphics cards", but the selling price was also at a premium.

Image source: Screenshot of a platform

Another person in the cryptocurrency circle told the Beijing Business Daily reporter that graphics cards used for mining are working at full capacity for a long time, and insufficient heat dissipation can easily cause damage to the chip, leading to performance failures, which are difficult for ordinary users to deal with after purchasing them.

The affected gaming users also fought back against the price fluctuations of graphics cards caused by cryptocurrencies and the chaos in the second-hand market. Beijing Business Daily reporters learned that since June, a large number of users have posted Nvidia RTX30 series graphics card trading links at low prices on the second-hand trading platform Xianyu, hoping to disrupt the "scalper" transactions.

On August 23, a Beijing Business Daily reporter searched the Xianyu platform with the keyword "graphics card 30 series" and found that "people are fighting in Syria and have no time to ship", "people are on the planet Saboteur and will ship as soon as they return to Earth"... Such words appeared in a large number of links, and the selling prices were no higher than the official selling price.

In addition, for some sellers who have a large amount of inventory and whose goods are obviously not idle by individuals, there are also a large number of users participating in comments under the links they posted. They are suspected of being "mining cards" and users are reminded of the premium situation and its harmfulness.

It is still unknown when users who need to use graphics cards can use them at normal prices. Pan Helin pointed out that even though the global chip supply capacity is limited due to the epidemic, according to the law of industry development, the iteration of graphics cards is also slowing down. If there is no growth in mining and other application demand, the supply and demand of graphics cards should be balanced.

Wang Peng, assistant professor at Renmin University of China, said that from the current situation, graphics cards have become an accessory of cryptocurrency to a certain extent and have become the object of speculation. Unlike the volatility of cryptocurrency itself, graphics cards, as hardware commodities, are also easily affected by factors such as usage cycle and product performance.

Graphics card speculation bubble

Regarding the recent rebound in graphics card prices, the industry generally believes that it is due to the rise in cryptocurrency prices. After a sharp drop across the board in May 2021, Bitcoin and Ethereum have gradually climbed since July, and the overall cryptocurrency market has rebounded.

Wind data shows that on August 23, Bitcoin broke through the $50,000 mark for the first time since May 11, and Ethereum also rose sharply. As of 20:05 on August 23, Bitcoin was at $50,482.17, up 2.45% on the day; Ethereum was at $3,347.86, up 3.28% on the day. In the past 60 trading days, Bitcoin rose 59.7% and Ethereum rose 77.54%.

Many analysts pointed out that the current rebound in the cryptocurrency market is the result of Ethereum’s upgrade completed in late July. Some people in the cryptocurrency circle believe that from the perspective of the mining difficulty of various cryptocurrencies, Ethereum is the main target of graphics card mining. As domestic mining machines gradually complete the “overseas migration” and restart, the demand for graphics cards will naturally rise.

The price of cryptocurrencies has rebounded, and discussions about the bull market in the cryptocurrency circle have become heated. Pan Helin pointed out that judging from the price trend of domestic graphics cards, domestic miners are still relatively active, and it is not ruled out that there are hidden self-mining behaviors that are in conflict with supervision. In addition to facing policy risks, self-mining is inefficient and costly, and it is very easy to cause financial losses.

Wang Peng further emphasized that with the sharp fluctuations in Bitcoin prices, in addition to the fact that the returns from mining are immeasurable, there is also a lot of bubble in the speculation of graphics cards following the price trend of cryptocurrencies. "Just like the previous hot hard disk mining, some dealers hoarded a large amount of goods, and after the bubble dissipated, they suffered huge losses. Related transactions should be cleared up and return to the mainstream."