Mining machines are in short supply! There is no sign that "mining" is an obsolete industry

The shortage of mining machines and the shortage of chips restrict production capacity

Bitmain's official website shows that multiple models of Antminer T17 and S17 series have been sold out. Some models show that they will be shipped 7 working days after payment is confirmed, and some models have been postponed to the end of November 2019. Different models of Antminers have different computing power and prices. Sina Finance noticed that the out-of-stock ones are mainly those with higher computing power and higher prices.

According to Taiwan media reports, Bitmain urgently placed a huge order for 7nm chips with TSMC to cope with the large demand for mining machines. Weibo technology celebrity "Mobile Chip Expert" revealed that Bitmain has booked a total of 30,000 7nm chips from TSMC for the third and fourth quarters. As the first chip manufacturer to master the 7nm process, TSMC has almost taken all the 7nm chip orders in the world. Industry insiders analyzed that a 12-inch 7nm nano wafer can roughly cut out 3,000 ASIC mining machine chips.

Unfortunately, TSMC's 7nm production capacity is currently fully utilized and in short supply. Qualcomm, Huawei, and Apple are also competing for TSMC's 7nm production capacity. Faced with limited chip supply, even Bitmain, the world's largest mining machine giant, can only sigh at the "coin".

Canaan Creative's official website shows that only a small amount of Avalon mining machine A10 series is in stock, and most of them need to be pre-ordered; the A9 series has been sold out; and the A8 series are mostly shipped within 7 working days after payment.

A10 series multiple models need to be pre-ordered

According to the official website of Ebang International, most of the Ebit series mining machines have been sold out. In addition, it is worth noting that only the two mining machines in the Ebit E12 series indicate the delivery time after payment, and both are shipped three and a half months after payment. Other models do not even have any instructions about delivery time or replenishment.

Source: Ebang International official website

The driving force behind the strong demand for mining machines comes from the rising price of bitcoin since 2019. Bitcoin has risen by more than 250% since its low of $3,177 in December 2018. Some small exchanges and mining machine dealers have closed down in the cold winter of the cryptocurrency market at the end of 2018, but those that have survived have finally seen the light of day.

Mining is listed as an obsolete industry, but the mining machine market is still hot

In sharp contrast to the surge in the price of coins and the difficulty in finding mining machines, on April 8, 2018, the National Development and Reform Commission issued the "Guidelines for Industrial Structure Adjustment (2019 Edition, Draft for Comments)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Draft"), which listed virtual currency "mining" activities (the production process of virtual currencies such as Bitcoin) as obsolete industries. In the Draft, virtual currency mining activities are classified as "outdated production process equipment" along with some chemical production technologies that produce toxic gases and high environmental pollution.

However, the hot mining machine market does not show that this industry is an obsolete industry. Instead, it seems to be in full swing and thriving. In the final analysis, the "Draft Opinion" is not mandatory, but only provides a policy orientation, which has almost no binding force on industry practitioners. Against the backdrop of rising coin prices, both mining machine manufacturers and mine operators still pursue mining profits as their primary orientation, and production and operations are not affected in any way.

The current boom in the mining machine market is based on the recovery of Bitcoin and the fact that mining is not completely banned by regulators. Once any of these foundations are shaken, the market will be immediately poured with cold water. This is also the reason why the three major mining machine giants have applied for listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange but have not been approved. Now Bitmain and Canaan Creative have successively applied for US stock IPOs, and the prospects are still unpredictable.

Editor-in-charge: Tang Jing