The graphics cards, once the main tool for mining, are now largely idle in corners.writingReporter Chen Genglin from China Entrepreneuredit| Yao YunSource of header image| Visual ChinaThe prices of graphics cards have been falling all the way, and the "waiting parties" have decided whether to continue waiting

The graphics cards, once the main tool for mining, are now largely idle in corners.

writingReporter Chen Genglin from China Entrepreneur

edit| Yao Yun

Source of header image| Visual China

The prices of graphics cards have been falling all the way, and the "waiting parties" have decided whether to continue waiting.

At 14:44 on September 15, Beijing time, the Ethereum The Merge was officially activated. A few minutes later, the first epoch (used to define the time of specific events on the blockchain) was completed, marking that the Ethereum blockchain had completed the transition from Proof of work (PoW) to proof of equity (PoS), and the new era of PoS was officially opened. This merger was broadcasted on YouTube, and over 40000 cryptographers witnessed this history online.

Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, tweeted to celebrate: "This is an important moment for the Ethereum ecosystem, and everyone who helped the merger should be very proud!"

And graphics cards are the most severely affected part of this' ecosystem '.

Before the merger, Ethereum "miners" gained income by mining with video card mining machines, but now they can gain income by pledging Ether in the form of verification nodes. It is understood that different virtual currency systems have different requirements for mining machines. For example, Ethereum mining machines, which used to be the main mining tool with graphics cards as the core, can only be idle in the corner now.

From the demand side, this upgrade has brought the "wealth management product" graphics card back to normal, and everything has settled. The entire two-year era of graphics card mining has come to an end.

Since March, the news of a merger in 2022 has spread, and the graphics card market is in a state of impending turmoil. And the prices of graphics cards have also been falling all the way, and by September 20th, the prices of graphics cards had started to be basically at the same level as the initial offer price, even falling below the initial offer price. Taking the 3070, which was difficult to obtain during the mining boom, as an example, the price has dropped from 6299 yuan on February 28th to 3899 yuan.

Chinese Entrepreneur found through a search on a second-hand platform that terms such as "mining disaster" and "exercise" often appear in resale information related to graphics cards. Many second-hand resale content also specifically includes information such as "not mining cards" or "not exercising" - where "exercise" refers to participating in mining, and "mining cards" refer to graphics cards that have been used to mine.

Asus' technical engineers told China Entrepreneur: 'Mine cards can be used normally, but their lifespan is not long. The high temperature generated by long-term and high load operation can damage the chip. The lifespan of different mine cards varies depending on their operating time and state.'

It is difficult for ordinary consumers to pay for mining cards that flow into the second-hand market.

Source: Visual China

You can't even grab a graphics card with a "plug-in"

Dwhite once asked his friends to use flash buying software. At first, this was not a difficult task for him, who had rich experience in snacking: "I have snatched sneakers, Maotai, and souvenirs before

The flash buying software is a program written by Dwhite's friends themselves, which is not stable, sometimes useful, and sometimes not working. However, in this year, I have snatched more than ten graphics cards, but I have not succeeded in any of them.

Dwhite has discussed this issue with friends and came to two conclusions: firstly, the merchant has set up high protection measures, and secondly, it is impossible to seize it due to internal processing.

Dwhite, born in 1995, previously worked at a 4A advertising company and resigned to study abroad for graduate studies, coinciding with the postponement of the pandemic plan. During the waiting period, games became one of the pastimes, and the idea of replacing the graphics card and power supply for the computer arose. After multiple attempts at using the 'flash buying software' as a 'plugin', Dwhite still couldn't grab the original price of the graphics card, and waiting and watching became the only thing Dwhite could do.

Compared to Dwhite, Bi Jun, who grabbed the original price graphics card in one go, appears much luckier.

After 1985, Bi Jun has already got married and started his own business. Since childhood, he likes to assemble computers by himself and research computer accessories. As an adult, he once worked as an apprentice in a computer repair shop for a period of time. With children, he has little time to play games and enjoys the pleasure of purchasing and replacing computer hardware more than playing games.

My past work experience and childhood hobbies have given Bi Jun a better understanding of other flash buying channels. In February 2021, he grabbed a 3070 video card with the original price of 3899 yuan in Luo Yonghao's live broadcast room. "At that time, the price of 3070 had risen to 6000 or 7000 yuan. At the end of the countdown, I immediately ordered a small yellow car to pay for it, and I don't know why I grabbed it.".

After grabbing the original price of the graphics card, Bi Jun posted this achievement to the Tieba. However, in the face of such a small probability event, netizens did not believe him, "others said I was a trustee

Bi Jun also told "Chinese Entrepreneur" that the 3070, which was originally priced, took 4 months to experience and sold for 6000 yuan. "In May 2021, the 3070 rose to around 10000 yuan in the second-hand market, and I really can't bear the temptation

At that time, he proposed an "excessive" condition to the buyer, saying, "After receiving the goods, regardless of whether the card is good or bad, you have to pay and cannot return it, but you are all rushing to get it." This crazy market situation was not expected by Bi Jun.

The continuously rising graphics card prices have once caused many game players who have been watching for over a year to completely "give up". According to the 3DCenter report, in December 2021, the premium between Nvidia and AMD graphics cards once exceeded the first suggested retail price by 80%. A RTX3080Ti with an initial launch price of 8999 yuan was once priced at over 20000 yuan in the market.

Source: Visual China

During the period of digital currency boom, graphics cards were sold in bulk by "mining bosses", resulting in ordinary players finding it difficult to obtain one card.There are media reports that "as soon as the spot goods arrive at the hands of regional or even national agents, they will be packaged and bought by major mining owners", which makes players only able to purchase or rush to buy very few graphics cards at high prices.

Game enthusiast Ray posted, saying, "The computer with the 618 in 2021 has all the other parts installed, just one graphics card away. I scan the news every day, wait for price cuts, and feel exhausted. Sometimes I can't help but want to add money and go down the mountain. It's really tiring to watch every day. However, on second thought, maybe if I don't do anything for a month, I can save 3000 yuan. Let's continue watching every day like this

Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, said in response to the global shortage tide in October 2020 that the main problem of shortage was not supply, but demand far exceeded expectations, resulting in the current shortage situation. "We have already expected a lot". And they stated that they have been working hard to increase production capacity, and the current yield and transportation are both very excellent, but they were immediately sold out after being put on the shelves.

If you want to purchase a graphics card, you can only buy it at a high price through card grabbing or other channels. And because the prices of graphics cards have skyrocketed, there have been reminders of a cooling off period for graphics cards on second-hand platforms. The Xianyu Index shows that the average transaction price of graphics cards increased by about 1060 yuan from October to December, twice the same period last year. And in the past five months, the number of graphics card transactions has continued to soar.

Series 30: I used to be unable to grab it, but now I don't care about it

Colette Kress, chief financial officer of Nvidia, told players at a Goldman Sachs technology conference that the price of video cards had dropped to almost normal.

The mining disaster may seem to bring the graphics card back to its normal state, but for players, it only affects the next generation series of new products.

Wang Yi is a designer whose hobby is playing games. The original old computer could only support playing some online games with low performance requirements, and the 3A game masterpiece was something he had always wanted to experience.

After seeing the release of the new product, Wang Yi immediately sent a message to his friend expressing his shock, "3070 has a performance greater than 2080ti and costs 4000 yuan. In September 2020, Nvidia's new 30 series graphics card product was announced, and Wang Yi found that the information released by the 30 series graphics card blew up all platforms - this series of graphics cards doubled in performance and halved in price.

According to Steam, the world's largest gaming platform, the 1060 graphics card is the most commonly used by game players on the platform, and this graphics card was released in 2016. The limited performance improvements and rising prices of previous generations have made the desire for game players to replace computer hardware less intense. But compared to the previous generation of the 20 series, the 30 series graphics card has doubled its performance and halved its price, which directly stimulates the nerves of many game players.

Although I just bought a computer a year ago and don't play much, I'm really impressed by the cost-effectiveness of this, "Wang Yi told China Entrepreneur. At that time, the price of the 2080ti on JD.com was close to 9000 yuan, while the better performing 3070 was only 4000 yuan." I never dared to think about it before

Wang Yi immediately took action and quickly purchased accessories such as motherboards, CPUs, memory, and power supplies on e-commerce platforms. "I calculated the prices and was waiting to buy a new graphics card at that time," he said. From then on, Wang Yi watched the teaching video of Sanji while also paying attention to the price of the graphics card.

However, the timing of this move has not yet arrived.

On the supply side, the production capacity of the 30 series new graphics card is insufficient after it is launched; On the demand side, the mining boom is rapidly exploding. So, the spectacle of hundreds of thousands of people grabbing graphics cards appeared. Wang Yi told us that several original priced graphics cards listed on JD.com need to be snapped up in order to purchase them. When the number of bookings exceeds 500000, the amount of snapped up purchases is only one.

Source: Screenshot of shopping platform

At that time, the 30 series was a popular commodity for mining cards, but now it has become a target of disdain.

After the news of the merger in March this year, in addition to the gradual return of graphics card prices to the official selling price, a large number of mining cards with prices significantly lower than the original price began to flow into the market.

Card seller Kuang Longfei stated in the video, "There have been a lot of mine owners who have come to me to sell mine cards in recent days, but most of them are also consulting. Some are trying to find other coins, but I estimate they won't be able to dig for a few days. Some say they will shut down the phone first to check the situation, while others are ready to sell their cards. When the mine owners exchange various coins and find that the revenue and electricity bills are equal, they will sell at a low price

There is no lover in a mining accident who has feelings. You can negotiate and the graphics card is unsold. Help us

A large quantity, a large quantity, as long as the price is suitable

I encountered a mining disaster and obtained an exercise card. This idle card

A search by "Chinese Entrepreneur" found that this type of mining card has already entered the second-hand market, with a price tag of 3080 yuan for 1999 yuan; 3090 is 2599 yuan; 3070 is 1599 yuan; 3060 is 1099 yuan. Many companies that receive such mining disaster cards are being acquired at a standard of 200-500 yuan.

Source: Screenshot of second-hand platform

On second-hand platforms such as Xianyu, the current graphics card price is less than 1/5. As of September 23rd, the selling price of 3070 mining cards is only 1400 yuan. Senior player Gao Bo told "Chinese Entrepreneur": "The price will still decrease, possibly exceeding 1000 yuan." This graphics card, which was originally priced at 3899 yuan, once sold for over 10000 yuan at its highest price in April last year.

The impact of mining cards has flowed into the market, affecting the entire ecosystem.

A graphics card dealer in Zhongguancun told China Entrepreneur:Many dealers around are selling mining cards, but now the new graphics cards are not unsold. The quality of mining cards is difficult to guarantee, and they may break down quickly. It all depends on personal luck. However, the current graphics card prices have indeed bottomed out

And players also hold a skeptical attitude towards mining cards.

Bi Jun stated that he had seen players posting: "The 3090 graphics card purchased at 5900 yuan in Xianyu did not pass the TimeSpy stress test." It is understood that TimeSpy is a graphics card measurement software mainly used to measure the stability of graphics cards during long-term operation. Graphics cards that have not passed the test may experience black screens, blurred screens, crashes, and other issues.

Asus graphics card dealers told China Entrepreneur, "The new 30 series graphics cards sold now are all lockable graphics cards and cannot be used for mining. They have no impact on gaming and work performance

At the press conference on September 20, "Virtual humans Old Huang" showed up with a new 40 series graphics card. The 4090 doubled the performance of the 30 series 90 graphics card, but the price increased this time.

Farewell to the era of graphics card mining

Vitalik Buterin realized early that Proof of work is not a long-term solution.

In March 2015, Ethereum formulated four stages of development from Proof of work to proof of equity, and plans to realize proof of equity in the fourth stage "Serenity".

Since 2017, VitalikButerin has proposed to shift from Proof of work to proof of equity in 2019 to achieve ETH 2.0, but the plan has been suspended due to factors such as difficulty and safety. In December 2020, the pledge test began on the beacon chain, which opened an important step for Ethereum to move from PoW to PoS. After this test, each node verifier needs to pledge 32 ETHs, which can be taken out in batches after the consolidation is completed.

Data shows that as of April 25, 2022, the total number of ETHs pledged on the beacon chain is 11387194. The upgrade of Ethereum London hard fork EIP-1559 and the upgrade of Ethereum beacon chain Altair completed in the second half of 2021 also prepared for the merger.

Until September 15 this year, the merger was officially completed, which also marks the merger of Ethereum from Proof of work to proof of equity.

Why is this merger so important? To put it simply, the past Proof of work mainly focuses on To each according to his contribution, and more work may be distributed. The manifestation of behavior is "mining", and the current proof of equity mainly relies on pledge.

Source: Visual China

The act of 'mining' actually includes two actions.

Firstly, bookkeeping.Bitcoin is a distributed virtual currency, and its records are not stored in a certain institution or center, but in all users' computers. Therefore, network data computation requires the support of users. Bitcoin trading is a process in which signed data is broadcasted onto the network, and the resulting data operations need to be carried out through the computers of users in various regions. Bitcoin generates a block every ten minutes, and miners involved in mining package the transaction data within these ten minutes. A block contains transaction details, timestamps, signatures, and random numbers.

Secondly, after packaging, miners must compete for accounting rights, which means they need to perform a hash operation to calculate a random number.Whoever calculates first can receive rewards for the block, which is Bitcoin. Because it is a completely random calculation, there is a situation where one calculation is successful. However, overall, the greater the computing power of a miner, the more hashes are performed per unit time, and the more likely it is to be successfully calculated in a short period of time.

This means that the more devices involved in computing, the greater the workload, and thus the more digital currencies available.

Meanwhile, due to different algorithms used, Bitcoin mining can only generate benefits using specialized mining machines such as ASIC. Ethereum can mine only by using graphics cards, which greatly reduces the "access threshold" for mining, and this is one of the reasons for the rise of the mining boom.

The sharp rise in the prices of virtual currencies such as Bitcoin has led to more and more people participating in "mining", and graphics cards have become a tool for "mining owners" to become rich. In a situation where supply and demand were relatively balanced, they purchased at high prices to form "mines". However, upstream blockades have made it difficult for ordinary consumers to purchase graphics cards.

With the increasing number of people involved in mining, the consensus mechanism of Proof of work has led to huge energy consumption. According to reports, Bitcoin consumes approximately 150 terawatt hours of electricity annually, exceeding the annual electricity consumption of 45 million people in Argentina; Ethereum consumes about 62 TWh of electricity every year, which is also close to the annual electricity consumption of 9 million people in Switzerland.

After the merger, graphics cards can still be used to mine other mines, but they are only a small part. Nowadays, a large number of graphics cards have been sold by mine owners. CITIC Securities research said that the demand for new GPUs used for ETH mining in the future will basically disappear. It is estimated that the number of graphics cards eventually flowing to the Secondary market will be about 4 million to 5 million.