Close-up | Bitcoin mining machine seller: Prices change too quickly, selling mining machines is like "selling a house"

Bitcoin is making history again.

Although the price has fallen after hitting a new high in February, Bitcoin has ushered in a new wave of growth. On the evening of March 13, Bitcoin rose rapidly in the short term and then hit the $60,000 mark. On March 14, the price on the Huobi platform showed that the price of Bitcoin continued to rise, breaking through the $61,000 mark.

Market data shows that Bitcoin has increased by more than 35% since March and nearly 110% this year. At the end of last year, the price of Bitcoin was around $29,000.

"The price has been raised, I will ask again." Xiao Wang, a mining machine seller, kept updating his WeChat Moments. "Recently, many people have inquired about it, and it is difficult to get the goods now."

As we all know, Bitcoin is mainly mined. Shenzhen Huaqiangbei has become one of the largest mining machine sales distribution centers in China and even the world. Xiao Wang rented a stall in Huaqiangbei SEG Plaza before. "In 2018, the price of Bitcoin plummeted, and the place began to cool down. At the worst time, a whole row of stalls was empty. I know that some people have now switched to online business, and some have already moved away. Although the market is hot again now, I am still used to doing it online."

In his opinion, the rising price of Bitcoin has led to a surge in demand for mining machines. Investors have purchased more high-computing-power mining machines, hoping to gain more stable returns by increasing computing power while the price of the currency is high, which has driven up the price of mining machines. From the outside, the flood season from March to April has arrived, and many players are also eager to move. The reporter found that many mining machine manufacturers' official websites currently show that new machines are sold out. Bitmain's official website shows that the Antminer S1995T, S19Pro110T and other machines on sale have been sold out. In addition to the new mining machines being sold out, second-hand mining machines have also become popular. "In the middle of last year, an Antminer S19 sold for about 15,000 yuan. Now the spot price may be more than 50,000 yuan, and the new ones are almost gone, and the number of second-hand mining machines changing hands is not very large." Xiao Wang said with a smile, "The price now is the same as selling a house in Shenzhen through a real estate agency."

Why do you say that? Because prices change so quickly, Xiao Wang's quotations are all replaced by "XX". "Now in Shenzhen, only reference prices are allowed when selling houses, and the owner's price cannot be directly stated. It's similar when selling mining machines, except there is no reference price."

Guosheng Securities believes that the recent high price of Bitcoin will inevitably lead to an increase in miners' income. The shipment volume of Bitcoin mining machines is limited by the production capacity of chip foundries, and the increase in the computing power of the entire network is limited. The payback period of miners is an important factor for mining machine manufacturers to consider when pricing. As miners' income increases and the payback period shortens, mining machine manufacturers are likely to raise the price of mining machines and increase their income. The purchase cost of mining machines has increased, and the payback period of new miners is likely to be shorter than that of miners who have purchased sufficient computing power in the early stage.

"The current price of mining machines is indeed too high." Xiao Wang told reporters, "Try not to be a leek, just hold on for a while."

“Have we reached the top yet?”

Bitcoin continues to break new records. For a time, it seems that traditional technical analysis has become ineffective. The doubts in the market may have changed from "Has it reached the top?" to "Where is the next high point?"

$70,000 - This is the answer given by Philip Swift, co-founder of the US market analysis company Decentrader. Antoni Trenchev, co-founder and managing partner of London-based Nexo, believes that every price correction is a buying opportunity and a time to build momentum. "Bitcoin's resilience is legendary."

Huobi Group co-founder Du Jun said that the main reasons for the Bitcoin price to break through $60,000 include the passage of the US $1.9 trillion stimulus bill, and the dissipation of investors' concerns about the tightening monetary environment caused by inflation. Previously, Bitcoin experienced a sharp correction, which means that the market is still not optimistic about inflation. With the implementation of the current policy, the previous excessive decline has been corrected. In addition, large listed companies are gradually paying more attention to and recognizing Bitcoin, and funds are still flowing into the Bitcoin market. In addition, individual investors in the market are more emotional and have joined the ranks of buying Bitcoin, injecting funds into the market to promote the rise of Bitcoin. For the future development of the market, Du Jun believes that it is necessary to refer to whether the expectations of the global market fundamentals have changed. If the global economy reaches a turning point, the main reason supporting the rise of Bitcoin may disappear. Investors are advised to pay close attention to changes in macroeconomic policies.

Previously, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that Bitcoin is not a widely used trading tool and that current Bitcoin investment is "highly speculative." Yellen previously said at an online seminar that using Bitcoin for transactions is "extremely inefficient" and that Bitcoin has important risks in terms of legality and stability, and investors may suffer losses. Regarding the recent hot Bitcoin, JPMorgan Chase believes that this is just an "economic show" that looks very lively. After the epidemic, the development of financial technology is more worthy of investors' attention, because financial technology innovation will dominate financial services.