HomeCryptoBitcoinBitcoin mining: the price of ASICs doubled in China

Bitcoin mining: the price of ASICs doubled in China

According to the latest news from China, the high demand for bitcoin mining ASICs has driven up the prices of these devices.

In June, the ASIC manufacturer Canaan reported that demand for ASICs was three times higher than production capacity, due to the rise in the price of BTC between May and June.

During the last quarter, the price of the most popular hardware solutions for bitcoin mining practically doubled, according to some Chinese media.

Over-demand and limited inventories are putting pressure on the bitcoin mining hardware market, which has seen a real explosion after the first dormant months of 2019.

By now it is very difficult for the miners to find new hardware for mining. Not only that, even the second-hand market has also undergone a considerable surge since, in the absence of the latest models, most of the large investors who build mining farms are turning to old generation solutions.

One of them is certainly the Bitmain Antminer S9, an ASIC that is now two years old but that, for those who have free electricity, is still very profitable, especially if purchased at very low prices as has been the case in recent months.

Bitcoin mining: demand for ASICs and hashrate at the highest levels

Obviously, the country most involved in the mining race is China, which has always been at the centre of attention for the mining of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The reason is quite simple: the abundance of cheap electricity coupled – at least in recent months – with the ease of finding mining hardware at a good price, has made the Asian country practically a leader in the mining of cryptocurrencies.

In fact, it is estimated that Chinese miners control about 70% of the bitcoin hashrate. Major investors in this sector have transformed some regions, such as the province of Sichuan, into real mining hotspots, thanks to the availability of cheap electricity coming from dozens of dams.

Precisely in these last hours, the hashrate of bitcoin has touched again the 80 Exahash/s, setting the historical record that will probably be exceeded again in the next few days. The bitcoin mining difficulty is now skyrocketing and will probably undergo another substantial growth during the next correction.

According to analysts, the bitcoin hashrate could easily exceed 100 Exahash/s by the end of 2019, even if much will depend on the price trend of the currency. However, thanks to the ever-increasing mining rush, the high demand for ASICs and the continuous investment in this sector, it seems that miners are expected to make profits in the long term rather than immediately, especially in view of the halving in May 2020.

Recently, German company Northern Bitcoin signed an agreement with Bitmain and Canaan to purchase 5,000 ASICs. While MGT Capital Investments placed an order for 1,100 ASICs from Bitmain.

Bitmain itself recently revealed its financial data, showing substantial losses of hundreds of millions of dollars in the first quarter of this year. However, as announced by the company, the second half of the year should prove very profitable, resulting in a positive balance sheet.

Emanuele Pagliari
Emanuele Pagliarihttps://www.emanuelepagliari.it/
Telecommunications engineer with a strong passion for technology. His adventure in the world of blogging started on GizChina.it in 2014 and then continued on LFFL.org and GizBlog.it. Emanuele is in the world of cryptocurrency as a miner since 2013 and today he follows the technical aspects related to blockchain, cryptography and dApp, also for applications in the Internet of Things.
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