Regarding the mining machine downtime, maybe you have a misunderstanding

On November 25, Bitcoin dropped to a low of $6,515 (Binance price), and the entire market was in extreme panic. This time, Bitcoin continued to fall, once again touching on a sensitive topic: the price of the currency has fallen to the shutdown price of S9.

As we all know, almost half of the current Bitcoin network computing power is contributed by the S9 mining machine. If the S9 shuts down, it will have a relatively large impact on the difficulty of mining. Therefore, whenever the S9 falls to the shutdown price, it always touches the hearts of many people.

Myth 1: All S9 devices will shut down at the same time

The proportion of electricity costs determines whether the S9 will shut down. In the short term, in principle, as long as the proportion of electricity costs is less than 100%, mining can continue as long as it is profitable.

1. S9 has multiple models, and the shutdown prices are different

Many people who have never mined may think that there is only one model of S9, but in fact, S9 has multiple models of 13T/13.5T/14T. If the S9i model is also regarded as the S9 model, the S9i model also has 13T/13.5T/14T/14.5T, and their energy efficiency ratios are different. The shutdown price of each model is different. The S9 shutdown price we often refer to is the S9-13T machine.

2. Different electricity prices lead to different shutdown prices

The biggest cost of mining is electricity. Electricity prices vary greatly in different countries and regions. In some Middle Eastern countries, where oil resources are relatively abundant, electricity prices may be less than 0.1 yuan. In China, electricity prices are more than 0.2 yuan during the flood season and about 0.4 yuan during the dry season. It can even be said that whoever has the cheapest electricity price has stronger competitiveness and vitality in mining.

Even if the mining machines are shut down, the machines with high electricity prices will be shut down first. The shutdown of some mining machines will lead to a decrease in the computing power of the entire Bitcoin network, a decrease in the difficulty of mining, and more Bitcoins mined by a single mining machine.

3. Different operation modes have different shutdown prices

In the long-term mining practice, miners have found some methods to make S9 power consumption lower, profit higher, and naturally lower the shutdown price.

1) The S9 mining machine can run in low power consumption mode. By adjusting the voltage, the energy efficiency ratio of the machine can be reduced, thereby reducing the shutdown price of the mining machine;

2) S9 dual mining, combining two S9s to mine together, with lower overall power consumption, can reduce the shutdown price of the mining machine and delay shutdown.

Misunderstanding 2: If the S9 is turned off, it means the S9 mining machine is dead

1. The impact of falling coin prices on miners is not as great as expected

If miners are confident about the future price of the currency, and the price of the currency falls below the shutdown price in the short term, the mining machine can be shut down and restarted when the price of the currency rises. If the price of the currency is still too low to be turned on for a period of time, the mining machine can be removed from the shelf, packed and sealed, and restarted after the price of the currency rises.

2. Mining machines will not die easily. It will take a long time for S9 to be eliminated.

Because different mining farms have different electricity costs, some miners trigger the shutdown price because the coin price is not high, while some miners can still make money from mining because of the cheap electricity price. At this time, miners with high electricity prices will sell their mining machines, and miners with low electricity prices will buy mining machines. Due to the fluctuation of coin prices, mining machines will be transferred to miners with strong competitiveness.